Masks might be found among almost all cultures all over the world. The earliest-recognized sculpture from Igboland is from the village of Igbo Ukwu , where the grave of a person of distinction and a ritual store dating from the 9th century ce contained both chased copper objects and elaborate castings of leaded bronze.

Similarly, there are full-time and half-time artists; there are artists who determine within the political institution and those who are ostracized and despised; and a few artwork kinds could be made by anyone, while others demand the devotion of an professional.

Also present in Dogon territory are what could be the oldest textile fragments in West Africa (dated to the eleventh century), establishing a baseline date for the existence of the narrow-band loom within the region, and the oldest wood sculptures in existence (three have been traced by carbon-14 relationship to the 15th-seventeenth century ce).

Though the majority of carved figures are product of wood, many vital pieces in metallic and ivory have been found. The Eskenazi Museum of Artwork at Indiana University has a large collection of conventional artwork objects from Kenya together with jewellery, containers, weapons, walking sticks, headrests, stools, utensils, and other objects accessible on-line.

The African collection consists of approximately 1,000 objects—older works and new ones by contemporary artists. Their masks, painted white to symbolize dying, signify dead female ancestors, although they’re worn by male kinfolk of the deceased. The headpieces and masks have steel teeth, inlaid eyes, and continuously pegs to represent hair, which, alternatively, could also be carved in elaborate coils.