This seamstress is sewing a shirt. Seamstresses are a common sight in the streets of West Africa. They use manually operated sewing machines as power strikes occur regularly. The girls usually work for very small ‘fashion’ shops where the customers can select a design from a Western catalogue. The colon is made of a solid block of wood with the exception of the crank of the ‘Singer’ and it was acquired in Ghana in 1999. It dates from around 1990. Height 58 cm. Width 17 cm. Depth 22 cm.