This is a beautiful decorative mask from Kenya, East Africa. Made of African mahogany wood by an Akamba woodcarver, this piece in Swahili would be called “uso ya punda malia” In other words, the face of a zebra. This zebra 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 13-14 inches long x 6 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. |