Cuba Santeria Orisha Doll Yemaya

The Yoruba people from West Africa were once brought as slaves to the Americas. In Yoruba religion there are spirits called Orisha. Orisha play an important role in the Santeria religion of Cuba. Santeria is a blend of Yoruba religion, Roman Catholicism and Spiritism and developed during the late 19th century.

This doll is an Orisha called Yemaya. In Cuban Santeria Yemaya is worshipped as the owner of the oceans and seas. She is the mother of all living things because without water there would be no life. The colors of her ritual garment are blue and white. The blue and white ruffles represent the waves in the ocean. Read more about Yemaya here.

The doll is made without legs, there’s just a wire stick covered with fabric under her skirt. Marked ‘Yemaya Cuba’ on her stand. It seems like she is missing something that she was holding in her hands.

Folklore is in the air… uhm… ear!

Details

Object Orisha doll
Origin Cuba
Culture Afro-Cuban
Medium Fabric, painted plaster (or clay?), cardboard, wood, wire
Mark or Tag On stand
Made by Unknown
Size H 30 cm
Dated Not dated
Acquired Fleemarket early 2000’s

Postcard

No postcard available. There should be a nice postcard here that matches this doll, to show you how the people living in Cuba are dressed in their traditional costume.

There is nothing suitable in our postcard books at the moment, too bad!

Happy collecting,