About Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture
The people at ArtZimbabwe became involved with the Zimbabwe contemporary stone sculpture movement, also known as Shona Sculpture, in 1983 when travelling on business in Harare, Zimbabwe. At that time the movement was in its infancy and the early developers of the art form were just beginning to make their impression in the art world. We developed close relationships with the original masters; Nicholas Mukomberwanra, Henry Munyaradzi, John Takawira, and others. Our sculpture gallery, The African Influence Gallery in Boston MA, which opened in 1987 was one of the early innovators and among the first to introduce this art form to America. And later, in conjunction with our 20 year partnership with The Reece Galleries in New York City, we placed hundreds of major works in private and institutional collections throughout the world and played a significant role in the worldwide promotion of this art form’s most important artists.
The collection presented here includes many works from the old masters as well as an evolving collection of works from both established and aspiring artists. It has always been our goal to encourage and support aspiring Zimbabwean artists, whether they have exemplary talent or not. We have included here the photos of many of our sold artworks so that the viewer can experience a wider perspective of the artists’ body of work. We hope you enjoy our site.
A Note about our works:
All of our stone sculptures, with very few exceptions, have been acquired directly from the artists, some over 35 years ago. The few we own that were not purchased directly from the artists were acquired from known very reputable sources within Zimbabwe. We guarantee the authenticity of all our artworks.
Zimbabwe Stone Sculpture has gained world-wide recognition since it first emerged as a distinctive new art practice in the late1950s. The large varieties and abundant supplies of naturally occurring rock formations of the Zimbabwe landscape provided artists with a medium unique to their country. Starting out as a small and eager group of students at a newly established painting and sculpture workshop at Harare's National Gallery (now the National Gallery of Zimbabwe) in 1957, artists soon mastered the technical skills required to make their impression on the resistant stone boulders and began to create forms of great sculptural variety and complexity. Soon the work was receiving attention outside of Zimbabwe, in Great Britain, Europe and the United States where exhibitions drew the attention of the media, including Newsweek, which in September1987 hailed it as "perhaps the most important new art form to emerge from Africa in this century." As art historians, museum directors and curators, gallery owners, collectors and the public at large began to recognize that the art of Africa was not confined to timebound age-old traditional works mainly carved from wood, but that the tradition was alive and growing, a new audience for this contemporary art developed.
The best of Zimbabwe stone sculpture combines the splendor and solidity of the stone medium with imagery drawn from reality and abstracted into symbolic form. Figures and features that are reminiscent of, yet not quite like, animal and human forms suggest the creatures and mythological beings that inhabit the realms of the religions and folklore of the Zimbabwean people. The inherent character of the stone is used both in its rough cut and textured state or heated and burnished to a high gloss to reveal rich greens, browns, blacks and grays. The hardness, mass, shape and volume of the serpentine, quartz, dolomite, verdite, lepidolite, steatite, and other stones define the formal characteristics of the completed works. In addition to their weightiness, the polished surface gives a quality of classic refinement. Because the stone is quarried locally, often on land owned by the artists themselves, obtaining art supplies is relatively simple for these artists.
The story of how Zimbabwean stone sculptors came to occupy a firmly established position in the international world of art museums and galleries goes back many years--some observers claim as far back as the fourteenth century and the construction of a series of architecturally complex stone villages, the zimbabwes or "ruler's places" from which the newly independent country (the former British colony of Southern Rhodesia) took its name in 1980. The ruined remains of these settlements were discovered in the 19th century, and the largest became known as "Great Zimbabwe". Along with what remained of the architecture of Great Zimbabwe were found small artifacts, impressively carved totems, and imposing bird-like figures fashioned from the stone that is an abundant resource in mineral-rich Zimbabwe.
The discovery mystified Western archaeologists for years. Their prejudices, combined with the political agenda of the colonial government, would not allow them to admit that such sophisticated productions were the work of the uneducated, and, to them, primitive and uncivilized, local black peoples. But there was no evidence of any other settled population in the region and today there is no longer any doubt that the early inhabitants and creators of these settlements were the ancestors of present day Zimbabweans. Although there is no evidence at all for a direct link between the stone birds and figures of Great Zimbabwe and the renaissance in stone carving that began in the early 1960s, the resonances are tantalizing. As Celia Winter-Irving has pointed out, the shared material and methods indicate that the present day sculpture is not "a totally isolated phenomenon" but a new occurrence of creative expression which has existed for centuries.
Sculpting Tools
Most of all the work is done using only the most basic hand tools; hammer, chisels, files, and wet/dry sandpaper. Almost all the artists use no electrical or pneumatic machinery during the carving process as it is all done by using hand held tools. Because of his preference for very hard stones, Joseph Muzondo does use some pneumatic tools during the initial reduction process and then switches to hand tools for the carving process. A few other artists, such as Chetuwa Jemali, will also incorporate pneumatic chisels to speed the reduction process. The picture below tells the whole story. Work is done outside by daylight, usually under a simple canvas tarp, using these rudimentary tools yet with highly refined techniques.
Dolomite
Dolomite is often pink or a pinkish white but can also be white, grey or even brown or black depending on whether iron is present in the crystal. Dolomite in its common form is made up of group of small rhombohedron crystals with curved saddle-like faces. Dolomite is a common sedimentary rock where Iron and Manganese deposits are sometimes present.
Leopard Rock
It is similar to serpentine; having a creamy yellow color with black blotches. The only known deposit of Leopard Rock is in Zimbabwe. It is very difficult stone to carve only skilled sculptors will attempt this rock. Leopard Rock when polished has a beautiful glazed finish.
Lepidolite
Lepidolite is a semi-precious stone with various shades of purple. It can be an extremely hard stone. Only skilled sculptors attempt to carve lepidolite. The stone is a quartz with lithium giving it its color. It has been used as a source for the extraction of lithium.
Serpentine
Serpentine is the name used for several different aggregate structures which are usually green, yellowish green, or brownish green in color. The finer serpentine is cut as cabochons for gemstones, or carved into decorative objects. Though serpentine is sometimes confused with jade, serpentine is usually spotted or veined. This is the most frequently used stone that the artists choose.
Soapstone
Soapstone is a natural soft stone, with a ´soapy´ texture when wet. Although somewhat soft, soapstone is a very dense stone, denser than marble, slate, limestone and even granite, making it naturally waterproof - liquid spilled onto the stone´s surface is not absorbed. Soapstone is found on every continent and has been used by countries native people for thousands of years, pieces of soapstone have been found in igloos in the Arctic, tombs of Pharaohs, Chinese and Indian palaces and the mountains and valleys of Africa.
Springstone
Springstone the hardest stone generally carved (5-6 on the Mohn's scale), Springstone is a very fine grained hard stone that polishes to an amazing very dark brown or black lustrous finish - not surprisingly it´s extremely fine finish and excellent durability is highly sought after. A regular feature if this black stone is to have a layer of chrome ore running through the sculpture. This vein of ore is extremely hard and during the polishing of the sculpture the softer stone adjacent to the vein wears away faster than the chrome vein leaving the vein standing out proud. A further feature of springstone is it may be covered with a thick layer of reddish/brown material. This is the oxidization of the iron in the stone. Many of the artists use this additional feature of the stone to give a sculpture a two tone effect. This ferrous oxide is softer than the heart of the stone.
Verdite
Verdite an exotic and wonderful stone of rare quality. It captures the mysterious and beautiful colors of an age-old area of Africa. Like the ever-changing sea, it is infinite in its variety of lovely shades and patterns, usually in green with inclusions of blues, gold, red and browns.
Verdite occurs amongst the oldest rock in the world dating back over 3500 million years. The only known deposits are found in areas where gold was first discovered in Africa many centuries ago. It is related to the Serpintonites and occurs in various lens-shaped pods dotted over a 25-kilometre range. The material has no cleavage and is riddled with intrusions of corundum (ruby) crystals (hence the name Ruby Verdite), quarts, calcite and mica. Chromium is the mineral, which gives Verdite its distinctive rich green color - Ruby Verdite can be extremely hard, corundum is the second hardest stone on earth.
Amongst the African people, Verdite takes precedence in their traditions, a basis for ancient craftsmanship and tribal love. In powdered form, it has been used by witch doctors as a mystical preparation for inducing fertility.
Where does the stone come from?
The majority of the stones used for carving originate from the Eastern Highlands area commonly known as ‘Nyanga serpentine´ or ‘The Great Dyke’, a volcanic ridge running for 1300 kilometers across the center of the country in the direction south west to north east. It is the longest linear mass of volcanic rock in the world. For millions of years heat and pressure concentrated on this ancient rock mass have created a unique mineral fusion, which can now be seen in all the different colors, shadings and combinations of hard and soft stones.
Sculptors in Zimbabwe carve a variety of stone from the hardest springstone to the softest of soapstone. The stone range includes verdite, many types of serpentine, opaline, dolomite, leopard rock, various steatite and soapstones. This gives the artists a large range of textures and colors to choose and work from. The stone colors are formed by trace elements and minerals included in the molten stone million of years ago. The main inclusions are chrome, copper, and ruby corundum, all forming part of magic and mystique of this magnificent, exquisite contemporary art form.
Serpentine and springstone are the stones preferred by the artists. They have a wide range of hardness and color. The color or combination of colors has left the artists with over 200 different color stone variations from which to carve. Verdite is an ancient brilliant green semi-precious stone over 3.6 billion years old. Verdite can be an extremely hard stone as it may have areas where ruby corundum, the second hardest stone on earth, is included. Zimbabwean verdite, commonly known as ruby verdite, is unique to Zimbabwe because of these ruby corundum inclusions. The only other deposit of verdite is found in South Africa.
Due to their ability to read the stones many of the artists do not mark or draw on the stone surface but follow the stones natural form and contours when sculpting. The stone itself dictates to the artist the subject hidden within it. Once the hammering and chiseling is completed the artists then starts to smooth the nearly completed rough sculpture’s surface with various diamond studded and high carbon steel files to achieve a finer smoother finished surface. In the next step the sculpture is honed (polished) using various grades of wet/dry water paper. The last grade to be used being either a 1200 or a1500 grit. This will give a very fine smooth surface ready to absorb the final clear waxing process. The sculpture is then placed near a fire or left in the sun (similar artificial methods of heating can also be used) to be heated before applying coats of beeswax or clear wax polish to draw out the colors of the stone. The sculpture is then left to cool down and only once the sculpture is cold can the final shining process be completed. Stone being a natural product will absorb wax readily.