"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.
The 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.
