
KITCHEN
Cedar bookends, 'Fear God' (pair)
$69.95
About this product:
NOVICA, in association with National Geographic, offers thousands of limited edition and one-of-a-kind gifts, jewelry, and home decor treasures handmade by master artists and artisans throughout the world. Ghana's famed gye nyame symbol emerges in cedar wood, its rotating form meaning "I fear none except God." Known as an adinkra symbol, this image is revered throughout the country. George Obeng carves the traditional motif to grace a pair of bookends. Artisan Info: George Obeng was born on March 30, 1952. His carvings are realized primarily in ebony wood, as the material is endowed with innate strength and beauty that requires no chemical enhancement. Mahogany, odum (oak), sese, and odanta are other woods he employs, although these need to be treated for preservation. Obeng prefers to leave his ebony carvings unpolished, he says, "Because the beauty and natural sheen of the wood in nature is left on perpetual display." The artist is motivated to carve by one principal theme: "Recording the events" of his time. As an animal rights activist and a committed vegetarian, wildlife plays an integral role in his work, such as the tenderness of the butterfly, the mischief of the monkey, the slowness of the snail, and the vivacious character of the bird. Each of his carvings is a poignant reminder of this critical juncture in the preservation of the global environment and communal ecology. Themes of the "Third World" also inspire Obeng's art. Depictions of female figures, often carrying