beautiful earring

A beautiful young woman ties up her hair with kente cloth and flaunts colorful beaded earrings. By Winfred Korley, this lovely African mask is his own design. Carved by hand, it is named Awula Yo, "Lady" in the Ga language.

Beautifully mysterious and enigmatic, this replica of the forest spirit mask bears the artistry of the Bantu people. They live in several communities that spread from Africa's Great Lakes region all the way down to South Africa. To the Bantu, masks with off-white faces represent the spirits of their ancestors and were often worn by dancers on stilts during funeral rituals. Working with sese wood, Ghana's Christopher Nyasafo faithfully replicates the mask in off-white, red and black featuring stone and cotton twine earrings. A second smaller face wears recycled glass earrings.

A comb centers the headdress of this beautiful African mask, and the personage wears large earrings. Hand carved and painted, the sese wood image is crafted by Ghana's Salihu Ibrahim. It represents the Fulani people who have settled in Mali. Although thought to have West African origins, the Fula are also present throughout Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa. "We Africans tend to adopt certain cultural practices that we believe are good ones, and customs are also shared through inter-cultural marriage," Ibrahim explains. "Among Mali-dwelling Fulani, such masks are given to a woman as a marriage proposal. She responds by giving a Senufo monkey mask to her suitor as a sign of acceptance."

A monkey centers the headdress of this beautiful African mask, and the personage wears large earrings. Hand carved and painted, the sese wood image is crafted by Ghana's Salihu Ibrahim. It represents the Fulani people who have settled in Mali. Although believed to have West African origins, the Fula are also present throughout Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa. "We Africans tend to adopt certain cultural practices that we believe are good ones, and customs are also shared through inter-cultural marriage," Ibrahim explains. "Among Mali-dwelling Fulani, comb masks are given to a woman as a marriage proposal. She responds by giving a Senufo monkey mask to her suitor as a sign of acceptance. Because the monkey is known to be a happy animal, this mask reflects her happiness in saying yes."