African Tanzania Nyamwezi Carved Wood Staff Depicting a Colonial Army Recruit
An East African Tanzania Nyamwezi Carved Wood Staff Depicting a Colonial Army Recruit
Old smooth dark brown patina
Late 19th – early 20th Century
Size: 97cm long – 38¼ ins long
Old smooth dark brown patina
Late 19th – early 20th Century
Size: 97cm long – 38¼ ins long
The Nyamwezi live in North Central Tanzania and have one of the country’s richest art traditions. In the 19th century they were involved with the Swahili-Arab caravan trade and travelled between the Congo and the Indian Ocean trading towns, where they were given the name of ‘Nyamwezi’ meaning ‘People of the West’. They were established as far a field as Zanzibar, and these long distance trade routes brought the possibility of itinerant craftsmen travelling along with the merchants. Thus many of the works of art from central and western Tanzania are often identified as Nyamwezi.
African Tanzania Nyamwezi Carved Wood Staff Depicting a Colonial Army Recruit
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