Sokofa Origin Series
Made in Tanzania
Tingatinga painting, beadwork and craft from East Africa's coast and highlands
Acheter maintenant
7 products from Tanzania
Arts
Together in Harmony | Acrylic Parrot Painting, 60x80cm
Together in Harmony is a hand painted acrylic canvas, 60 by 80cm, of two green parrots perched together on a blossom branch above a running stream. The two birds face each other along the bough, one in pale yellow green and one in deeper green with a blue flash down the tail, and both long tails fall through pink blossom towards the water below. The paint is laid on thickly, so the feathers and the broken white water sit proud of the surface and shift as the light moves across the room. The canvas is signed K Art Witney in the lower right corner. Of the three paintings in this collection this is the warmest and the busiest, so it suits a wall that needs lifting rather than calming: a hallway, a landing or a kitchen. If you want the quiet version of the same idea, the same artist's swan painting carries it at sunrise instead. Supplied unframed as a stretched canvas, painted in Tanzania. Wipe the surface with a dry soft cloth and keep it out of direct sunlight.
£300.00Sold by pamoja creative circle • Tanzania
Crafts
Men's Filet Crochet Polo Shirt, Cream, Handmade Cotton
A men's polo shirt crocheted by hand in cream cotton blend yarn, worked in filet crochet so the geometric pattern is built from open squares and filled blocks rather than printed on. It has a folded crochet collar, a three button placket, short sleeves and a small tag stitched at the hem. The first photograph shows the actual shirt on a hanger; the photograph on a model is a styled image. Filet crochet is a counted technique. The maker works from a grid and decides square by square whether to leave a hole or fill it, which means the pattern across the chest is structural: it is the fabric, not a decoration added to it. Get a square wrong and the motif is wrong, so a shirt like this is slow work. The openwork is the reason to buy it. A crocheted shirt sounds warm and this one is the opposite, because roughly half the surface is air. It suits heat, coast and holiday dressing, and it wears well over a plain vest if you would rather the openwork were not quite so open. There are two ways to buy it. The finished shirt in the photographs is one size, and the maker's flat measurements are on the size chart in the images: shirt length 73cm, chest width flat 60cm, which is about 120cm around, sleeve length 27cm, cuff width flat 20cm and armhole 25cm. Compare them against a shirt you already own. If that size will not suit you, choose made to measure, give your own body measurements, and the maker will crochet one to fit, which takes about ten days before dispatch. The yarn is 55% cotton and 45% acrylic. Wash by hand in cool water, do not wring it, and dry it flat and out of the sun so the shoulders keep their shape.
£60.00Sold by Phanice Designs • Tanzania
Arts
Serenity Within | Acrylic Swan and Lake Painting, 60x80cm
Serenity Within is a hand painted acrylic canvas, 60 by 80cm, of two white swans on still water below a snow capped mountain at sunrise. The sun breaks at the foot of the mountain and lays a band of gold straight down the middle of the lake, and the two swans meet inside it. Autumn trees frame both banks and a bed of small pink and orange flowers runs along the front edge. The water is worked in long horizontal strokes so the reflection breaks up the way real water does. The canvas is signed K Art Witney in the lower left corner and has a hanger fitted to the top of the stretcher. This is the calm one of the three. It is the painting for a bedroom, a landing or a hallway you pass slowly, where the parrot canvas from the same artist would be too loud. Supplied unframed as a stretched canvas, painted in Tanzania. Wipe the surface with a dry soft cloth and keep it out of direct sunlight.
£300.00Sold by pamoja creative circle • Tanzania
Arts
Guardian of the Savannah | Original Elephant Painting, 90 x 60cm
An original acrylic painting on stretched canvas, 90 by 60cm, showing a single bull elephant walking out of a savannah sunset, with acacia trees and a jagged mountain behind it. The whole painting is lit from one place: the sun dropping behind the mountain at the centre of the canvas. Everything in front of that light is in near silhouette, so the elephant is built almost entirely out of shadow, and the few warm touches that do land on it, along the forehead, the top of the trunk and the tusks, are what make it read as an animal rather than a shape. It is a quiet painting for a wall that gets evening light, and it will hold a large space on its own. The canvas is stretched over a wooden frame and the scene is carried around the painted edges, so it hangs as it is and needs no framing. It is signed feroos in the lower right corner. Stock of one, because there is one of it. Hang it out of direct sunlight to keep the sunset colours, and dust it with a dry soft brush rather than a cloth.
£445.00Sold by FEROOS ARTZ • Tanzania
Crafts
Zanzibar Kapu Woven Palm Basket Bag, Kitenge or Kikoi
A handwoven palm basket bag from Zanzibar, about 60cm wide, with a printed cotton band and centre panel, cloth wrapped handles, small leather tabs and a tie closure. Kapu is the Swahili word for basket, and this is the everyday island shape rather than a version of it redrawn for export. It is wide and shallow and flares open at the top, so a towel, a book and a bottle of water sit side by side instead of stacking on top of each other. That is what you want from a market or beach bag and it is exactly what a narrow tote cannot do. The body is plaited from dried palm leaf, worked in Zanzibar in strips known as ukili. The printed cloth is stitched down the centre front and around the top band, the two handles are wrapped in the same cloth and anchored with small tan leather tabs, and a length of cloth ties the top shut. Choose Kitenge, the bold wax print, or Kikoi, the lighter Swahili coastal cloth. Brush it out rather than washing it, and keep it out of the rain.
£40.00£45.00Sold by Sunora • Tanzania
Arts
Rhythm of Life | Acrylic Tabla Painting, 100x140cm
Rhythm of Life is a large hand painted acrylic canvas, 100 by 140cm, of a pair of tabla drums set against a sweep of deep blue, white and gold. The two drums sit on their rings at the foot of the canvas, the larger one to the right, their white heads and dark centres catching the light. Above them the background is laid on in thick vertical knife strokes of cobalt, navy and white, broken by patches of red and ochre, so the surface has real texture that changes as the light moves across it. Two lines of Hindi are lettered in gold on either side, with the Om symbol between them. The artist reads the tabla as a heartbeat, and the whole painting as life's balance between struggle, joy, silence and celebration. At 1.4 metres tall it is a statement piece that wants a wall of its own: a living room, a music room or a stairwell. If your space is smaller, the same store's 60 by 80cm bird paintings are the better fit. Supplied unframed as a stretched canvas, painted in Tanzania. Wipe the surface with a dry soft cloth and keep it out of direct sunlight.
£350.00Sold by pamoja creative circle • Tanzania
Arts
Moments of Pure Beauty | Acrylic Kingfisher Painting, 60x80cm
Moments of Pure Beauty is a hand painted acrylic canvas, 60 by 80cm, of a kingfisher on a mossy log above white water, with a green valley opening behind it. The bird sits in profile, blue back to you and orange breast turned to the light, its long dark bill held level over the river. Red flowers crowd the left bank, the water runs white over rock below, and soft blue hills close the view. The paint is thickest around the water, so the spray catches the light before the rest of the picture does. The canvas is signed K Art Witney in the lower right corner and has a hanger fitted to the top of the stretcher. This is the one with a single subject rather than a pair, so it holds a wall on its own: above a desk, a reading chair or a narrow stretch of hallway where a wider scene would be wasted. Supplied unframed as a stretched canvas, painted in Tanzania. Wipe the surface with a dry soft cloth and keep it out of direct sunlight.
£300.00Sold by pamoja creative circle • Tanzania
About Tanzania
Tanzania's creative tradition
Tanzania gave the continent one of its most recognisable painting styles. Tingatinga began in Dar es Salaam in the 1960s with enamel on board, flat saturated colour and subjects drawn from village life and the animals around it, and painters still work in that lineage today.
Alongside painting, Tanzanian craft takes in Maasai beadwork shared with neighbouring Kenya, Makonde carving, and woven pieces made for the home. Shopping made-in-Tanzania on Sokofa puts you in direct contact with the artists and makers themselves.
What you'll find
Craft traditions from Tanzania
- Tingatinga and contemporary canvas painting
- Maasai hand-stitched beadwork
- Makonde wood carving
- Hand-woven homeware
- Coastal textile craft
Why Sokofa
Every vendor on Sokofa is personally verified. When you buy tanzania products here, you buy directly from the artisan, with no middlemen and full transparency.
Common questions
About buying tanzania products online
What types of Tanzanian products can I buy on Sokofa?
Sokofa carries work from Tanzanian painters and makers, including original canvas painting in the Tingatinga tradition and its contemporary descendants, Maasai beadwork, and handcrafted pieces made for everyday use.
What is Tingatinga painting?
Tingatinga is a Tanzanian painting style that began in Dar es Salaam in the 1960s with Edward Said Tingatinga. It is known for enamel paint on board or canvas, flat saturated colour and bold, often playful animal and village subjects. The style is now carried on by a second and third generation of painters.
Are Tanzanian products on Sokofa authentic?
Yes. Every seller on Sokofa is verified before their products go live. We confirm seller identity, product origin and craftsmanship, so buying here supports the Tanzanian artist or maker directly.
Do you deliver Tanzanian products worldwide?
Yes. Sokofa ships internationally to the UK, US, Europe, Australia, Canada and beyond. Delivery timelines and costs are shown at checkout.
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