wooden earrings

Beautifully coiffed, a young woman is regally dressed. She is draped in Africa's legendary handwoven kente cloth and wears beaded necklaces and earrings. Carved by hand from sese wood, this sculpture is named Akwajan, a Ga word denoting the Queen Mother's attire.

Artisan Wayan Rendah pays tribute to the beauty of the female form with this original suar wood sculpture. The carver's attention to detail is magnificent, especially in the earrings and bracelet worn by the figure, and the hair that cascades over her shoulders. The unapologetically sensual sculpture is sure to captivate.

West African artisan Winfred Korley hand crafts this decorative doll from dark sese wood, recycled glass beads, and local clay. Korley first carves the doll from one piece of wood, then allows it to dry for two weeks, before adding final embellishments with clay and beads. The doll has two tribal marks on its cheeks, and it wears earrings of red beads, and necklaces of blue, green, and yellow beads. The doll stands upright with arms outstretched, and has protruding breasts and navel. Korley names his original work a yaa doll, after the Akan name for a female born on a Thursday.

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.

The colors of the beads and jute can vary slightly.

"African women are beautiful," says Evelyn Kafui Ahianyo of her inspiration. She creates the elegant design of this sculpture, which she names "Detugbi," meaning "Lady" in the Ewe a dialect spoken by the Anlo tribe of Ghana in the Volta region. The sculpture is carved by hand featuring outspread hands, a small waist and large thighs. She wears glass bead earrings on red cotton threads. The sculpture is adorned with ornate aluminum plates