{"title":"Wood Sculpture","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"ladder","title":"Ladder","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Ladder\" is a piece of sculpture that began as a tool. The Dogon, a people of the central plateau region of Mali and among the oldest surviving cultures in Africa, built their homes into the sides of sandstone cliffs and reached them on ladders like this one: a teak trunk that forks at the top, with wedges carved in as footholds and the fork set against the wall for stability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRetired from service, the ladder keeps its sculptural lines and natural patina, which is why Dogon ladders are prized as art far beyond Mali. The Dogon are celebrated above all for their wood carving, and this piece carries that tradition in working form. Comes complete with a custom stand.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48786465235,"sku":"S009","price":3199.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/S009-background-removed-1024.png?v=1592627694"},{"product_id":"colonial-people","title":"Colonial People","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Colonial People\" are figures that tell two stories at once. At first glance, the bright outfits and smiling faces give off a cheerful energy. Look longer and the figures turn somber: the sadness in the eyes, the forced smile, the hands held passively in pockets as they mirror the dress of the colonists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColonial, or \"colon,\" figures originated in the Ivory Coast during the colonial period, carved for indigenous use rather than for market. They depict European officials, soldiers, doctors, and Westernized Africans in European clothing and posture. The genre earned worldwide acclaim after decolonization, and scholars still debate whether the original figures were satire, ritual objects, or simply new subjects rendered in local styles. Available in three heights: 39, 59, and 61 inches. Only a few pieces remain.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"39\"","offer_id":49223179283,"sku":"S011","price":250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"59\"","offer_id":48786472147,"sku":"S011","price":550.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"61\"","offer_id":49223048595,"sku":"S011","price":650.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/S011-3.jpg?v=1595561376"},{"product_id":"colonial-people-2","title":"Colonial People","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Colonial People\" comes from the Baule tribe of the Ivory Coast, where the colon genre was born during the colonial period. The figures depict European officials and Westernized Africans in European dress, carved not for market but for indigenous use, a tradition some describe as Transitional Art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter World War II and decolonization, colon figures achieved worldwide acclaim. Anthropologists still debate whether they began as satirical portraits of colonial officials, as ritual objects, or simply as new subjects in local styles. Each figure carries that full, unsettled history. Available in small and large.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Small","offer_id":48786472915,"sku":"S012","price":1650.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Large","offer_id":49224912019,"sku":"S012","price":1850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/S012-2-1024x1024.png?v=1592625596"},{"product_id":"cd-rack","title":"CD Rack","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Antique Railroad \"CD Rack\" is a piece about second lives. Its timber began as a railway sleeper under an African railway, and the rack itself was fashioned for a music collection, so it carries two histories in one slender tower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuilt from Red Jarrah, a wood indigenous to Australia, it is hand crafted in Zimbabwe and joined with hand placed Red Jarrah dowels, not a single screw. The wood is dense and heavy, giving the solid, luxurious feel of a piece built from nothing but solid wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFill it with CDs if you keep your music on the shelf, or let it stand on its own as a wooden sculpture in a hallway or beside a desk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCondition: Excellent, not previously owned, undamaged\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSourcing: Fair Trade\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCertificate of Authenticity: Available Upon Request\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eProvenance Report: Available Upon Request\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48786489299,"sku":"S013","price":650.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/S013-1024x1024.png?v=1592965049"},{"product_id":"masaai-man-wood-sculpture","title":"Masaai Tribe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Masaai Tribe\" is a portrait of an elder, carved from a single piece of ebony and worked until every feature reads in fine detail. The face carries the dignity of a respected elder in the Masaai community, a people for whom age and family command the deepest regard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Masaai are a semi-nomadic people of Kenya and northern Tanzania, among the most recognized tribes in Africa for their distinctive customs and dress. Their art returns again and again to the figures who hold the community together.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48786501843,"sku":"S055","price":750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/S055-1024x1024.png?v=1592609896"},{"product_id":"masaai-man-wood-sculpture-2","title":"Masaai Tribe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Masaai Tribe\" is a portrait that grew its own frame. The elder's face is carved into the dark heartwood of the ebony, and the pale sapwood of the same uncut block is left standing around it, so the portrait and its frame share one piece of wood. The carving renders every feature in fine detail, capturing the dignity of a respected elder in the Masaai community.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Masaai are a semi-nomadic people of Kenya and northern Tanzania who hold family above all, and much of their art depicts family members supporting one another.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48786517651,"sku":"S061","price":950.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/S061-1024.jpg?v=1592609838"},{"product_id":"rhino","title":"Rhino","description":"\u003cp\u003eCarved from one solid piece of teak in Malawi, \"Rhino\" carries the weight and calm of the animal itself, an imposing form that anchors any room it stands in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rhinoceros holds immense value in African society as the second biggest living land mammal after the elephant. Farming communities draw on the traits of both the solitary, aggressive black rhino and the sociable, territorial white rhino in how they think about leadership, and the Mapungubwe gold rhino served as an emblem of sacred leadership in a class based society. Today rhinos are critically endangered and widely protected.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48793076243,"sku":"SF001","price":2700.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/SF001_f4e3e9c9-7303-4a3a-b44b-145cd83a0cab.jpg?v=1594411800"},{"product_id":"elephant","title":"Elephant","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Elephant\" was hand carved in Kenya in 1987 from one piece of wood, its trunk raised in the gesture Africans read as good luck. At 29 inches long and 19 inches high, it has the scale to hold a mantel or a tabletop on its own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe elephant is the keystone herbivore of Africa and a figure of deep cultural importance. In African fables elephants are the wise leaders who settle debates among the other forest animals, and their likeness appears in jewelry worn to ward off evil spirits.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48793096851,"sku":"SF003","price":2250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/SF003-2-1024x1024.png?v=1594411588"},{"product_id":"mother-and-children","title":"Mother and Children","description":"\u003cp\u003eA mother elephant shelters two calves beneath her in \"Mother and Children,\" the three carved as one from a single piece of ebony, so the bond between them is literal: they cannot be separated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElephants hold great cultural importance across Africa. In African fables they are the wise leaders who settle debates among the forest animals, and jewelry made from elephant hair is worn to ward off evil spirits. A trunk pointed upward is a sign of good luck, and both calves in this piece raise theirs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48793100307,"sku":"SF004","price":1850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/SF004-1024x1024.png?v=1594411693"},{"product_id":"buffalo-2","title":"Buffalo","description":"\u003cp\u003eA spirited, \u003cstrong\u003eexpressive\u003c\/strong\u003e buffalo sculpture hand carved from ebony wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuffaloes live in large herds numbering up to 500. Some groups have been known to reach around 2,000. Their united social structure and unpredictable behavior make them ferocious opponents even to lions, their biggest threat in the wild. Fearless and loyal, buffaloes are known to come to the ‘rescue’ of a fellow herd member should one be taken down by a lion or a crocodile. Sometimes the predator will back off to safety and the victim will walk away. In the bush, it is said that a buffalo looks at you like you owe them money. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48793130963,"sku":"SF006","price":1250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/SF006-2.jpg?v=1594411760"},{"product_id":"crocodile","title":"Crocodile","description":"\u003cp\u003eYork's Shona Gallery is proud to present \"Crocodile,\" carved from one piece of luxurious ebony. The crocodile is regarded as a sacred animal in parts of Africa, a spiritual being that offers protection and wards off evil. In Gambia it is stamped on the country's currency, and the sacred crocodile pool of Kachikaly serves as a prayer ground for visitors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Crocodile\" was handmade in Kenya in 1987 and is one of the few ebony pieces in our collection. The tradition of carving ebony in Kenya grows rarer every year, which makes a piece like this one increasingly difficult to find.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48793133203,"sku":"SF007","price":2750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/SF007-2-with-frame-jpeg.jpg?v=1594411864"},{"product_id":"rhino-2","title":"Rhino","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe achievement in this \"Rhino\" is its surface. Hand carved in Kenya from one piece of wood, it renders the folds and creases of the skin, the ears, and the facial features until the wood reads like hide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe rhinoceros is an umbrella species of immense value in African society, second in size only to the elephant among living land mammals. African communities draw upon the qualities of both the black rhino and the white rhino in their ideas of leadership, and conservation groups now guard the species as one of the continent's most endangered.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48793145043,"sku":"SF009","price":2500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/SF009-2-1024x1024.png?v=1594411717"},{"product_id":"masaai-tribe","title":"Masaai Tribe","description":"\u003cp\u003eYork's Shona Gallery presents \"Masaai Tribe,\" a sculpture that is about closeness. Six Masaai figures stand shoulder to shoulder, carved as one from a single piece of pure ebony, so that no figure exists apart from the group. It is a fitting form for a people who hold family above all, and whose art so often shows family members holding one another up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece is by Ndonye Mwanzilo, widely acknowledged as the finest of the many ebony carvers of Kenya's Machakos district. Mwanzilo works exclusively in ebony, and his detail demands great patience and a steady, most skillful hand. He believes art is an essential way to preserve the tradition and culture of Masaai life, and the tribe itself is his recurring subject.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48795560211,"sku":"MS001","price":3200.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/MS001-1024x1024.jpg?v=1592608972"},{"product_id":"masaai-people","title":"Masaai People","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Masaai People\" by Ndonye Mwanzilo depicts the Masaai warrior: an elongated, elegant figure carved in ebony, standing on a pale round base with spear and shield in hand. Each figure is 12 inches tall and sold separately, so you can bring home a single warrior or assemble a line of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Masaai are a semi-nomadic people of Kenya and northern Tanzania whose distinctive dress and customs have made them among the most recognized tribes in Africa. Mwanzilo, the finest of the ebony carvers of Kenya's Machakos district, has devoted his work to preserving Masaai life in wood.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":49225061715,"sku":"MS002","price":275.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/MS002-1024x1024.png?v=1592609027"},{"product_id":"masaai-people-2","title":"Masaai People","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Masaai People\" is a study in contrast. The tall, slender figures are carved from the dark heart of the ebony, and each stands on a base of the pale outer sapwood from the same raw piece, so the figure and the ground beneath it come from one wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece is by the esteemed artist Nelson, famous for his painstaking level of detail. Nelson hails from Kenya and was raised in the Masaai tribe. Among Masaai carvers he is known as a man of relentless will who goes to agonizing lengths for perfection, and he chooses ebony precisely because it challenges him.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48795568467,"sku":"MS003","price":425.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/MS003-1024x1024.png?v=1592609641"},{"product_id":"masaai-people-3","title":"Masaai People","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Masaai People\" by Nelson depicts a family. The figures stand close together, carved as one from a single piece of ebony, in the Masaai conviction that family is above all. Much of Masaai art shows family members supporting one another physically and emotionally, and this piece puts that belief in wood: remove the space between people and what remains is one form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNelson was raised in the Masaai tribe in Kenya and is famous for his painstaking detail. He carves in ebony, the hardest of mediums, because he believes challenge is essential to an artist's work.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48795580371,"sku":"MS004","price":400.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/MS004-1024x1024.png?v=1592609737"},{"product_id":"masaai-old-man","title":"Masaai Old Man","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Masaai Old Man\" is a portrait of age carried well. A dignified Masaai elder stands in a draped cloak, leaning on his walking staff, every fold of cloth and line of the face hand carved from ebony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece is by the esteemed artist Nelson, raised in the Masaai tribe in Kenya and famous for his painstaking level of detail. Among Masaai carvers he is known as a man of relentless will who goes to great lengths to achieve perfection, working in ebony because he believes an artist's career should include challenge.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48795595155,"sku":"MS006","price":275.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/MS006-2_5327775f-2bee-4964-8399-6fd7a8b7daab.jpg?v=1592609312"},{"product_id":"masaai-tribe-2","title":"Masaai Tribe","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe figures in \"Masaai Tribe\" stretch upward in the elongated style that defines Masaai carving, rising together from one piece of pure ebony. Available in two sizes, small and large.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the work of Ndonye Mwanzilo, whose medium is ebony alone and whose subject is Masaai life. Among the many carvers of the Machakos district in Kenya, he is regarded as the finest, and each of his pieces takes a great deal of time to complete. For Mwanzilo, carving is how the tradition and culture of the Masaai are kept alive.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"York's Shona Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Small","offer_id":48795599571,"sku":"MS007","price":650.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Large","offer_id":49225239635,"sku":"MS007","price":750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2248\/2725\/products\/MS007-1024x1024.png?v=1592609481"}],"url":"https:\/\/yorksshonagallery.com\/collections\/wood-sculpture\/decor.oembed","provider":"Yorks's Shona Gallery: One of a Kind African Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}