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Mask from Gabon Two Chiwara c. late 19th early 20th centuries, Art Institute of Chicago.Female (left) and male, vertical styles. Most African sculpture from regions south of the Sahara was historically made of wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, while older pottery figures are found from a number of areas.
The US-American art historian and former curator at the National Museum of African Art Nancy Ingram Nooter [33] begins her description of stools with raised backrests by referring to similar forms of this type of sculpture among various ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Lydenburg heads are the earliest known examples of African sculpture in Southern Africa. ... human characteristics, while a single head has animal-like features ...
African art reflects the diversity of African cultures. The oldest existing art from Africa are 6,000-year-old carvings found in Niger , while the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt was the world's tallest architectural accomplishment for 4,000 years until the creation of the Eiffel Tower .
Central Zimbabwe contains the "Great Dyke" – a source of serpentine rocks of many types including a hard variety locally called springstone.An early precolonial culture of Shona peoples settled the high plateau around 900 AD and “Great Zimbabwe”, which dates from about 1250–1450 AD, was a stone-walled town showing evidence in its archaeology of skilled stone working.
Measuring about 48-55 centimeters in height, ndop were carved in hardwood and anointed with palm oil to protect them from insects, which is unique in African art and underscores their survival in Western collections today. Ndop sculptures depict subjects sitting cross-legged, a posture that is equally unique in African sculpture.
The bronze casts could have been modelled on contemporary terracotta sculptures. [9] A long [citation needed] tradition of terracotta sculpture with similar characteristics existed in the culture prior to the date of the creation of these metal sculptures. Ivory was another material used frequently in African art.
The study of African art until recently focused on the traditional art of certain well-known groups on the continent, with a particular emphasis on traditional sculpture, masks and other visual culture from non-Islamic West Africa, Central Africa, [16] and Southern Africa with a particular emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Recently ...