Beaded Africa Map Wall Art, Four African Flags, Ghana

A hand carved Africa map in sese wood, beaded by hand with four African national flags filling the whole continent, edged in black beads. The flags in the photograph are Ghana with its black star, Chad, Nigeria and Tanzania, beaded across the map rather than pinned to their own countries. It is the busiest piece in this maker's range and the one that works as a talking point in a family room or an office, where the single colour maps are quieter. There is a lot to look at up close, so hang it where people stand rather than high on a stairwell. The continent is cut from sese wood, a light Ghanaian hardwood that carvers also use for drums, then filled bead by bead in seven colours, with a black bead border following the coastline. This one has no cowrie shells. The back is left as plain stained wood with a hanging hook fitted, so it goes straight onto a nail or a picture hook with nothing else needed. It measures about 28cm tall and 21cm wide. Dust it with a dry soft brush or a cloth. Keep it out of direct sunlight, which fades glass beads over time, and off a damp wall.