This is a beautiful decorative mask from Kenya, East Africa. The Giraffe is the tallest and one of the most graceful animals on the plains of Africa. Because of their height they are normally less vulnerable to the attack of the lions. The Giraffe’s biggest vulnerability comes when drinking at a watering hole. Made of African mahogany wood by an Akamba woodcarver, this Giraffe mask is totally handcrafted from a single piece of wood, and painted using natural dyes. As a gift or a personal treasure, this art piece represents a combination of the old and new styles: aesthetically beautiful, typically African in detail and expression, and totally hand crafted. This woodcarving is best suited as a wall hanging. Small but exquisite, this mask is approximately 9 inches long x 4 inches wide. 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. |