This exquisite piece of art, a hand-made dish from mahogany wood, comes from Kenya, East Africa. It’s not very often in the African wild that you come upon a Giraffe at a watering hole drinking. For a Giraffe to drink it must spread its legs in order to get down to the water. In this position the Giraffe is most vulnerable to its enemies such as the lion. This Mahogany bowl is a beautiful picture of the Giraffe at the watering hole. In rough woodsheds and under the shade of the mango trees, Akamba wood carvers work in a craft-cooperative, surrounded with sounds of chipping and sanding, men’s voices and laughter, occasional singing and the spicy, tangy smell of exotic woods. Here the craftsmen reduce single pieces of wood into useful and beautiful pieces of folk art, using only simple hand tools of axes, various-sized knives, files and sandpaper. The Akamba people are famous all over the world for their unique wood carving skills, which are passed from generation to generation. I have met Akamba men who were 5th generation wood carvers. The bowl is 7 inches high, 10 inches in diameter. |