Additional information
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| Materials | |
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| Ethnic Groups |
Older Turkana Doll
The Turkana are a Nilotic, semi-nomadic pastoral people of northwestern Kenya. They live in dry country centering on Lake Turkana which has no outlet and is fed by the Omo River flowing south out of the Ethiopian Highlands. Turkana dolls were traditionally carved by older male relatives, with adornments fabricated by mothers and older sisters. Dolls were used both by maturing girls as toys and by older women as fertility objects. As Kenya has a long history with tourism and settlers of European origin, Turkana dolls, headrests and other traditional, used artifacts came to the attention of travelers as ethnographic souvenirs as early as the 1920’s. This doll was collected some time in the 1960’s or 70’s by Sherri Hunt, an Anglo-South African who ran a popular modern art gallery in Nairobi for many years. It is older than most Turkana dolls one encounters with considerable signs of indigenous use. It has a fiber coiffure, beaded eyes, beaded leather skirts, armlets and collar and evidence of an attempt to repair one of its feet. Both the wood and leather accessories are extremely dry. Mounted on a custom base.
7.5″
