Mami Wata—exotic spirit, temptress of men, provider of wealth—might be wearing snakeskin if she wasn’t already draped in serpents. She’s a water spirit (her name means “Mother of Water” in Pidgin English), cruising the ocean like a mermaid/snake charmer. Although she first appeared in West Africa many centuries ago, this particular image of her became popular in southern Nigeria in the early 1900s. This unusually large figure was probably made in the early 1950s—dig the A-line skirt and trendy shoes. Street-wise and fashion-forward, she’ll share the secrets of her success with anyone looking to get a stylish leg up in the modern world and willing to pay her price: gifts and more, sometimes even celibacy.
Mami Wata is the god of the go-getters, the spiritual guide for upwardly mobile city dwellers getting by on hustle and street smarts, with no family money to fall back on. Her fashionable (in the 1940s), foreign-made shoes show that she’s urbane, sophisticated—a self-sufficient operator who’s figured out the system.
Mami Wata’s straight hair, lighter skin, and non-African features clearly identify her as a foreigner. Along the West African coast, which has traded with Europeans since the 1400s, foreigners are often viewed as sources of wealth.
In many parts of Africa, water spirits are associated with wealth and health and are often depicted as snakes, making Mami Wata especially beguiling to her African admirers.