Artsoutine Arts and Antiques

Description

Tribal carved large figure plaques lovely pair of very large African tribal figures or plaques made to hang on a wall each carved in African black wood (ebony) or mpingo as the wood is known locally by the Makonde people
This very large pair of African tribal figures depict a young warrior hunter kneeling before a tribal elder,each figure is signed with a carved name to the back of the figures.
Both of these large separate carved figures have been very well carved in high relief and polished by the makonde peoples of east Africa Tanzania.
The makonde people are renowned internationally for the quality and artistic skill they have as wood carvers.
The Makonde people base their carvings on their belief about life,love good and evil which make up the makonde peoples beliefs about the origins of man.
Makonde people live in the eastern parts of Africa, mainly in northern Mozambique and in Tanzania.They are quite famous for their traditional carvings.
In Tanzania the major place for such carvings is Mwenge market in Dar Es Salaam.
The naturalism of the human figures, the sculpture's polished finish, and the choice of wood African black wood makonde carvings generally depict to various deities or rituals of tribal life as offered here.
The Makonde are one of the five major tribes in Tanzania who originally migrated north from Mozambique to the southern Tanzanian highlands. They are internationally famous for their intricate carvings, based on Life, Love, Good and Evil and which form their beliefs about the origins of man. The carvings are possibly the greatest art forms which originate from Tanzania and are considered the most positive and uninhibited of all East African art. For centuries their figures carved from Mpingo or Ebony have played a central role in their ceremonies. Today the carvings still maintain the traditional elements of the human story in a tribal setting.