What is a wooden statue called?

Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object.

What do African statues represent?

Their purposes are very varied; bringing fertility, rain, good harvests; warding off disease, natural calamities, evil spirits; helping with social decisions and judgments; commemorating important events, making political statements.

What wood is used for African carvings?

Most commonly used are ebony, mahogany, teak, osese and iron wood. Ebony wood is very common in West African countries and is excellent for carvings/sculptures because of its density, colouration (black, dark brown, mixed black/cream or brown/cream) and brilliant natural sheen.

What were African carved sculptures almost always based upon?

What Were African Carved Sculptures Almost Always Based Upon? traditionally made with wood and other organic materials, and has not survived from earlier times than perhaps a few centuries ago; older ceramic sculpture can be found from a variety of places in Africa.

Why is wood used in African art?

African wood sculptures are not older than two centuries old because of the susceptible nature of wood to the destructive effect of termites and climate. Wood is the Africans most favourite material or medium for sculpture. For the large masks lighter woods are chosen, which do not weigh so heavy when worn.

What type of wood is used for African masks?

Fifteen traditional Dogon masks were studied to ascertain the wood species selected to carve them. The analysis shows the occasional use of marula (Sclerocarya birrea, 3 masks) and African grape (Lannea spec., 2 masks) and a preference for ceiba (Ceiba pentandra, 10 masks), a tree revered as sacred by the Dogon.

What wood is used for African masks?

Although several types of wood are used to carve masks and figures, most masks throughout the region are carved from the wood of the Ceiba pentandra (Linn.) Gaertn., which is called “cotton tree”,”silk-cotton tree”, or “ceiba”.

Why has much of Africa’s artwork been lost to history?

Because of the disposable nature of the raw materials used in the creation of the art objects, it means that an untold wealth of pieces have disintegrated in time. Colonialists most often did not give indigenous art the merit and attention it deserved and thereby African art history was not preserved or documented.

What are types of African statues?

History of African sculpture Nok sculpture. Nok terracotta figures (ranging in size from 10cm to nearly life-size) and found in NW Nigeria, represent over two centuries of sculptural tradition. Ife and Benin metal sculpture. Bronze casting is a sophisticated means by which Africans have historically expressed themselves. Ivory sculpture. African sculpture in wood.

What are African sculptures?

African sculpture. Most African sculpture was historically in wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than at most a few centuries ago; older pottery figures are found from a number of areas. Masks are important elements in the art of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized.

What is African art mostly used for?

African art is a term typically used for the art of Sub-Saharan Africa.Often, casual observers tend to generalize “traditional”. African art, but the continent is full of people, societies and civilizations, each with a unique visual culture.

What is an African sculpture?

African sculpture can often be described as monumental in that the figure or form is not separated from the wood or stone from which it is carved giving it a feel of heavy permanence.