All About Beautiful Handmade Ghana Furniture and Wood Crafts
May 12, 2009 by Culture Spot
Filed under DIMENSIONS
African Furniture
Ghana, also known as the Gold Coast is well known for its rich supply of durable timber of top quality. Timber or lumber from Ghana is valued greatly and used to make furniture, handicrafts, toys, and more. The most popular types of lumber from Ghana are Teak, Mahogany, Sapele, Bubinga, Maobi, Ebony, Iroko, Apa and Sesse wood. About one third of Ghana is covered with forest and its wood is 3rd highest revenue source making forestry one of Ghana’s main export.
Ghana is one of the most stable countries in Africa and its government supports and encourages entrepreneurship. Ghana has also received financial aid to help its forest industry so more wood can be grown and used. Ghana supplied timber to Europe from 1833 to 1945 after which it started exporting manufactured lumber.
Wood can be kiln dried or air dried and each piece may have subtle differences since it’s made from the hands of skilled craftsmen and not mass produced by machines. The handmade furniture from Ghana is influenced by its rich culture and history of ancient tribes that goes back thousands of years. The skilled craftsmen make beautiful stools with ancient African tribal designs. The African stool is very important in Ghana. The national symbol of Ghana is the Golden Stool and the Ashanti people believe that the soul of their nation resides in this symbol.
The Ashanti tribe is the largest in Ghana and they are famous for their handmade stools, other handmade crafts and their skilled craftsmanship. Other tribal influences come from Guan, Gurba, Fanti, Ewe, and Mole-Dagbani.
The traditional Ghana tribal stool, which is beautifully decorated, has been used for thousands of years and is still used today in Ghana for sitting at dinner. Because the furniture is inspired by African tribes such as the Ashanti tribe it’s the perfect accessory to any home because it’s beautiful, unique, exotic and skillfully crafted.
African Home Decor: Click to view Ghana furniture collection at Cultural Elements
