https://woodsculpturevintage.com Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:07:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 https://woodsculpturevintage.com/vintage-african-mami-wata-mermaid-wood-carving-serpent-figure-west-africa-24/ https://woodsculpturevintage.com/vintage-african-mami-wata-mermaid-wood-carving-serpent-figure-west-africa-24/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:06:03 +0000 https://woodsculpturevintage.com/vintage-african-mami-wata-mermaid-wood-carving-serpent-figure-west-africa-24/ Read more → ]]>











Mami Wata (Mammy Water). West African – Yoruba / Igbo tradition. Hardwood (likely ebonized mahogany or African blackwood). Very good – no repairs or losses. Vintage African Mami Wata Wood Carving – Mermaid Figure with Serpent, West Africa. A beautifully hand-carved Mami Wata (Mammy Water) figure in dark hardwood, depicting the iconic West African water spirit in her classic form: a naturalistic female upper body transitioning into a scaled fish tail below, with a large serpent coiling dramatically around the lower body and base. About Mami Wata: One of the most powerful and widely revered spirit figures across West and Central Africa, Mami Wata is a water deity associated with wealth, beauty, healing, and fortune. Her iconography uniquely blends African water spirit traditions with influences from Indian snake-charmer imagery and European mermaid lore – making her one of the great syncretic spiritual figures in world religious art. Carvings of this type are collected both as African folk art and as sacred objects within active Mami Wata spiritual communities across West Africa, the Caribbean, and the African diaspora. Finely detailed fish-scale work on the lower body – tight, deeply incised, highly uniform. Full serpent with scaled body, coiled base, and rendered head with eye detail. Negative space carved through the tail loop – technically demanding. Beaded/rope necklace carved at the throat – a signature Mami Wata attribute. Smooth pulled-back hair in chignon – classic iconographic convention. Rich dark patina throughout – consistent with genuine age and use. Carving quality: Above tourist grade. The scale rendering, serpent detail, and structural negative-space carving indicate a skilled individual or quality workshop carver. The figure stands on a scalloped/fluted round base. Wood is dense with a deep warm-dark tone consistent with ebonized mahogany, wenge, or African blackwood. Provenance: Collector in fwb, florida. Condition: Very good overall. No cracks, repairs, or losses observed. Please review all photos carefully – happy to provide additional images. Figure / sculpture – standing.

]]> https://woodsculpturevintage.com/vintage-african-mami-wata-mermaid-wood-carving-serpent-figure-west-africa-24/feed/ 0