Ham pilu fertility figure

A Fali marriage is not officially sealed until the birth of a first child. A figure, referred to as a ham pilu (meaning wooden child), is commissioned by a newly engaged man to ensure a successful union. Adorned with beads, hair made from plant fibers, and other precious ornaments, the figure is offered by him to his betrothed as a symbol of their marriage commitment. It serves as a representation of the desired first child, and as such the husband will assign the ham pilu the gender he prefers for his first born. As an intensely personal and powerful gift between man and wife, the figure is attentively cared for by the wife, who carries it with her by placing it in a sling that she wears on her back. Once a child is born, the figure is stored away as a family heirloom.

The various elements added to adorn ham pilu figures held both personal and broader social and historical significations. Cowrie shells decorate the figure in place of where arms and legs might be. Imported to Cameroon from the coast of East Africa and the Maldive Islands, cowries were one of the most valued and sought after items of exchange beginning in the fourteenth century. They might be used as currency, gaming pieces, objects of divination, and as elements of adornment. Among the Fali people and neighboring groups, cowrie shells are understood as symbols of fertility. They are used to adorn the beaded garments women wear around their waists. Cut on a woman’s wedding night, that attire signaled her age and marital status. That association with marriage and fertility relates to cowries’ use on ham pilu figures, which similarly were associated with matrimony and procreation.

This figure is almost entirely covered in strings of beads, likely imported to the region from Europe. In this example, the colors red and black dominate, except for a single string of yellow beads around the midsection and the dark blue beads added to the hair. While the prominent use of red and black likely held significance for the patron, the associations with the colors were not recorded at the time this figure left the region. The figure is further distinguished by its delicately rendered face. Not a standard feature for a ham pilu, that additional carving, alongside the added adornment to the hair, suggests the loving gesture invested in this work’s creation. That carefully rendered coiffure likely indicates that this example expressed a desire for a female first child.




Ellie Luchini, 2025
Roswell L. Gilpatric MuSe Intern