The Asante, members of a large complex of Akan peoples in southeast Ivory Coast and southern Ghana, are known for their royal arts as well as for goldweights, and for the most famous of all Akan sculptures, the small female figures called Akua'ba. These dolls are consecrated by priests, and are carried by girls and women and treated like a real child. They are used to promote their ability to conceive and ensure the beauty of their offspring. Thus, the figures symbolize both fertility and the Asante ideal of beauty. -Robbins/Nooter