Editing Sculpture (section)

===Africa===
[[File:Masque blanc Punu-Gabon.jpg|thumb|Mask from [[Gabon]]]]
[[File:Chiwara Chicago sculpture.jpg|thumb|Two [[Chiwara]] {{circa|late 19th}} early 20th centuries, [[Art Institute of Chicago]]. Female (left) and male Vertical styles]]
Historically, with the exception of some monumental Egyptian sculpture, most African sculpture was created in wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago; older pottery figures are found from a number of areas. [[Traditional African masks|Masks]] are important elements in the art of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized. There is a vast variety of styles, often varying within the same context of origin depending on the use of the object, but wide regional trends are apparent; sculpture is most common among "groups of settled cultivators in the areas drained by the [[Niger]] and [[Congo River|Congo]] rivers" in West Africa.<ref name="Honour & Fleming, 557">Honour & Fleming, 557.</ref>  Direct images of deities are relatively infrequent, but masks in particular are or were often made for religious ceremonies; today many are made for tourists as "airport art".<ref>Honour & Fleming, 559–61.</ref>  African masks were an influence on European [[Modernism|Modernist]] art, which was inspired by their lack of concern for naturalistic depiction.

The [[Nubia]]n [[Kingdom of Kush]] in modern Sudan was in close and often hostile contact with Egypt, and produced monumental sculpture mostly derivative of styles to the north. In West Africa, the earliest known sculptures are from the [[Nok culture]] which thrived between 500 BCE and 500 CE in modern Nigeria, with clay figures typically with elongated bodies and angular shapes. Later West African cultures developed bronze casting for reliefs to decorate palaces like the famous [[Benin Bronzes]], and very fine naturalistic royal heads from around the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] town of [[Ife]] in terracotta and metal from the 12th–14th centuries. [[Akan goldweights]] are a form of small metal sculptures produced over the period 1400–1900, some apparently representing [[proverb]]s and so with a narrative element rare in African sculpture, and royal regalia included impressive gold sculptured elements.<ref>Honour & Fleming, 556–61.</ref>

Many West African figures are used in religious rituals and are often coated with materials placed on them for ceremonial offerings. The [[Mandé peoples|Mande]]-speaking peoples of the same region make pieces of wood with broad, flat surfaces and arms and legs are shaped like cylinders. In Central Africa, however, the main distinguishing characteristics include heart-shaped faces that are curved inward and display patterns of circles and dots.

Populations in the [[African Great Lakes]] are not known for their sculpture.<ref name="Honour & Fleming, 557"/> However, one style from the region is pole sculptures, carved in human shapes and decorated with geometric forms, while the tops are carved with figures of animals, people, and various objects. These poles are, then, placed next to graves and are associated with death and the ancestral world. The culture known from [[Great Zimbabwe]] left more impressive buildings than sculpture but the eight [[soapstone]] [[Zimbabwe Bird]]s appear to have had a special significance and were mounted on [[monolith]]s. Modern Zimbabwean sculptors in soapstone have achieved [[Sculpture of Zimbabwe|considerable international success]]. Southern Africa's oldest known clay figures date from 400 to 600 CE and have cylindrical heads with a mixture of human and animal features.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Nok sculpture Louvre 70-1998-11-1.jpg|[[Nok Culture|Nok]] terracotta, 6th century BCE–6th century CE
File:Ife sculpture Inv.A96-1-4.jpg|[[Ife]] head, [[terracotta]], probably 12–14th centuries CE
File:Yoruba-bronze-head.jpg|[[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] bronze head sculpture, [[Ife]], Nigeria {{circa|12th century}}
File:Afrikaabteilung in Ethnological Museum Berlin 29.JPG|Sculpture of a 'Queen Mother' from Benin, 16th century.
File:Queen Mother Pendant Mask- Iyoba MET DP231460.jpg|16th-century ivory mask from Benin
File:Benin kingdom Louvre A97-4-1.jpg|One of the [[Benin Bronzes]], 16th–18th century, Nigeria.
File:Masque probablement Bobo-Burkina Faso (2).jpg|Mask from [[Burkina Faso]], 19th century
File:Statuette Mambia Nigéria.jpg|[[Mambila]] figure, Nigeria
</gallery>

====Ethiopia and Eritrea====
{{further|Ethiopian art|Lalibela Cross}}
The creation of sculptures in Ethiopia and [[Eritrea]] can be traced back to its ancient past with the kingdoms of [[Dʿmt]] and [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]]. [[Christian art]] was established in Ethiopia with the conversion from [[Traditional African religions|paganism]] to [[Religion in Ethiopia|Christianity]] in the 4th century CE, during the reign of king [[Ezana of Axum]].<ref>De Lorenzi (2015), pp. 15–16.</ref> Christian imagery decorated churches during the Asksumite period and later eras.<ref>Briggs (2015), p. 242.</ref> For instance, at [[Lalibela]], life-size [[Christian saints|saints]] were carved into the Church of Bet Golgotha; by tradition these were made during the reign of the [[Zagwe dynasty|Zagwe]] ruler [[Gebre Mesqel Lalibela]] in the 12th century, but they were more likely crafted in the 15th century during the [[Solomonic dynasty]].<ref name="briggs 2015 p331">Briggs (2015), p. 331.</ref> However, the [[Church of Saint George, Lalibela]], one of several examples of [[rock cut architecture]] at Lalibela containing intricate carvings, was built in the 10th–13th centuries as proven by archaeology.<ref name="sobania 2012 p.462">Sobania (2012), p. 462.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Ancient Figurine, National Museum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2130296832).jpg|Stone statue from [[Addi-Galamo]], [[Tigray Province]], 6th–5th century BCE
File:Axumite Jar Spout (2822628227).jpg|A jar spout from the early [[Kingdom of Aksum]]
File:ET Axum asv2018-01 img37 Stelae Park.jpg|The [[Obelisk of Axum]], 4th century CE
File:Ethiopian - Processional Cross - Walters 542889.jpg|A [[processional cross]], [[Zagwe dynasty]], 12th century
File:Bet Golgotha.jpg|One of the seven life-size [[Christian saints|saints]] carved into the wall of the Church of Bet Golgotha, [[Lalibela]], 15th century (traditionally believed to have been made during the reign of [[Gebre Mesqel Lalibela]])<ref name="briggs 2015 p331"/>
</gallery>

====Sudan====
{{further|Nubian pyramids}}
In [[History of Sudan|ancient Sudan]], the development of sculpture stretches from the simple pottery of the [[Kerma culture]] beginning around 2500 BCE to the monumental statuary and architecture of the [[Meroitic Empire|Kingdom of Kush]], its last phase—the [[Meroitic period]]—ending around 350 CE (with its conquest by Ethiopia's Aksum).<ref name="harkless 2006 174">Harkless (2006), p. 174.</ref><ref>"[https://www.mfa.org/collections/ancient-world/tour/nubian-art Nubian Art] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528215532/https://www.mfa.org/collections/ancient-world/tour/nubian-art |date=2018-05-28 }}". [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]. Accessed 28 May 2018.</ref> Beyond pottery items, the Kerma culture also made furniture that contained sculptures, such as gold cattle hoofs as the legs of beds.<ref name="harkless 2006 174"/> Sculpture during the Kingdom of Kush included full-sized statues (especially of kings and queens), smaller figurines (most commonly depicting royal servants), and reliefs in stone, which were influenced by the contemporary ancient Egyptian sculptural tradition.<ref>Harkless (2006), pp. 174–75.</ref><ref>March 2011. "[http://isaw.nyu.edu/exhibitions/nubia/highlights.html Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619180717/http://isaw.nyu.edu/exhibitions/nubia/highlights.html |date=2018-06-19 }}". [[Institute for the Study of the Ancient World]] (New York University). Accessed May 28, 2018.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Dipper National Museum Sudan.jpg|A ceramic jug of the [[Kerma culture]]
File:Shabti of King Taharqa.jpg|A [[shabti]] of the [[Nubia]]n King [[Taharqa]], from a [[Nubian pyramids|pyramid]] of [[Nuri]], Sudan, [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt]], 690–664 BCE
File:Anlamani-Statue-CloseUpOfHead MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png|Statue of the [[Kushite]] Pharaoh [[Aspelta]], [[Napata]] period (c. 620–580 BCE)
File:Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe-114985.jpg|Column and elephant - part of the temple complex in [[Musawwarat es-Sufra]], 3rd century BCE
File:Prince Arikankharer Slaying His Enemies, Meroitic, beginning of first century AD, sandstone - Worcester Art Museum - IMG 7535.JPG|Traces of paint on a relief depicting Prince [[Arikhankharer]] smiting his enemies, from the [[Meroitic period]] of the [[Kingdom of Kush]], early 1st century CE
File:Amanitore bust.jpg|Relief of a ruler, a [[Candace of Meroë]] named [[Amanitore|Kandake Amanitore]], 1st century CE
</gallery>