African Masks, Sculptures & Wall Art: A Guide to Authentic African Art
Culture & Home | 6 min read
A guide to authentic African art
Masks, sculptures, baskets, textiles and beads, and how to bring them into your home.
A lot of our customers ask where they can find real African art, not the mass-made decor you see in big-box stores. We focus on food and body care, so art isn't something we carry, but it's part of the same story: bringing a piece of home into your home. Here's a quick guide to the main types of African art, and a shop we like for finding authentic pieces.
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African masks
Masks are probably the best-known African art form. Traditionally they weren't made to hang on a wall. They were worn in ceremonies, dances and rites of passage, and each one carried meaning for the community that made it. A few well-known styles:
Baule masks
From Côte d'Ivoire. Calm, elegant faces with fine detail.
Dan masks
From Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Smooth, oval and often polished dark.
Fang masks
From Gabon. Long, pale faces, famous for inspiring modern European art.
Chokwe masks
From Angola and the Congo. Bold features, often with carved patterns.
African sculptures and carvings
Carved wooden figures range from small hand-size pieces to tall statues. You'll see ancestor figures, mother-and-child carvings, animals and everyday scenes. Good pieces are carved from a single block of hardwood, feel heavy for their size, and show slight differences from one to the next, because each one is made by hand.
Styling African wall art at home
A grouping of three masks or carvings at different heights makes a strong focal point over a sofa or in a hallway. Mix in a woven basket or a framed piece of kente or mudcloth for texture. Warm wood tones pair beautifully with neutral walls, green plants and brass accents.
African baskets
Handwoven baskets are both beautiful and useful. Bolga baskets from northern Ghana are woven from elephant grass in bright colors, and make great market or storage baskets. Zulu baskets from South Africa are tightly woven in bold geometric patterns. Many look just as good on a wall as they do holding fruit or blankets.
African textiles
Kente
Ghana's famous handwoven cloth in bright strips of color, worn for celebrations.
Mudcloth (bogolan)
From Mali. Cotton dyed with fermented mud in earthy black, white and brown patterns.
Adire
Yoruba indigo-dyed cloth from Nigeria, with patterns made by tying or resist-dyeing.
African trade beads
Beads have been traded across Africa for centuries. Older "trade beads" include glass beads brought by European traders and exchanged along West African trade routes. Today, Krobo beads from Ghana are made from recycled glass, and Maasai beadwork from Kenya and Tanzania uses bright colors that each carry meaning. Strands make beautiful necklaces, or you can frame them as wall art.
Where to buy authentic African art online
One shop we like is Africa Direct. Its founders started collecting African art more than 20 years ago, and it now carries thousands of pieces, from masks and carvings to baskets, textiles and one of the largest trade bead collections online. Each listing explains where a piece comes from and what it means, which makes it a great place to start if you're new to collecting.
Complete the African home
Art sets the look, and the smell of shea, black soap and a pot of soup on the stove makes it feel like home. At Yado, we carry the everyday essentials:
Shop more from home
Or visit us at 1651 E 87th St, Chicago.