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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.
A common theme in traditional African architecture is the use of fractal scaling: small parts of the structure tend to look similar to larger parts, such as a circular village made of circular houses. [1] African architecture in some areas has been influenced by external cultures for centuries, according to available evidence.
The origins of African art lie long before the recorded history. The region's oldest known beads were made from Nassarius shells and worn as personal ornaments 72,000 years ago. [6] In Africa, evidence for the making of paints by a complex process exists from about 100,000 years ago [7] and of the use of pigments from around 320,000 years ago.
In his article, Georges Meurant, collector, author of studies on African art and former professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium, discusses the mostly small-format sculptures made of wood or clay of the ethnic groups south of the Kenyan border in the north-eastern part of the country. [28]
The metal pieces were made using lost-wax casting and are considered among the best African sculptures made using this technique. [21] Benin began to trade ivory, pepper, and slaves [ 22 ] with the Portuguese in the late 15th century and incorporated the use of manillas (brass ingots in the form of bracelets, bought from the Portuguese) as a ...
The realism and sophisticated craftsmanship of the objects challenged the dismissive and patronising Western conceptions of African art. The naturalistic features of the Ife heads are unique [3] [1] and the stylistic similarities of these works "suggest that they were made by an individual artist or in a single workshop." [3]
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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.