8" Tall Carved African Nupe Door Gate

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This 96-inch door, a full 8 feet tall, is a monumental five-plank Nupe piece from the Niger River basin of … Read more This 96-inch door, a full 8 feet tall, is a monumental five-plank Nupe piece from the Niger River basin of central Nigeria, hand-hewn from five vertical hardwood planks joined by horizontal timber cleats on the reverse, more planks than the typical 3-4 plank construction seen elsewhere in this collection. Each plank carries its own distinct column of carved emblems rather than a single repeating pattern, a mix of geometric symbols, mask-like forms, and vessel and tool-like shapes suggesting trade goods and prestige items, consistent with the wide, mixed iconographic vocabulary typical of Nupe doors. There's a genuine loss at the upper left corner, an authentic historic fragment rather than damage from handling. The patina is a light, sun-oxidized honey-oak tone with softened hand-adze tool marks throughout. As the largest and most architecturally complete piece in this collection, this is a true statement door, suited to a great room, a stairwell with real ceiling height, or any space that can let its full eight-foot scale and dense, plank-by-plank symbolism be appreciated from across a room.

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