I have long admired Zimbabwe stone carvings especially as I was born there but still don't have any as yet. Over the years some of the artists have gained worldwide recognition.
"Shona" is the name of the tribal family who traditionally inhabited central and Eastern Zimbabwe and parts of neighbouring countries and forms the majority of the population today. The old (english) name for the region was Mashonaland as most indigenous languages of this region use prefixes to denote "land of" and "people of". The use of the word Shona to denote this art is curious, possibly political but uncontentious under the current Zanu-PF administration.
I was under the impression that it all started with a farmer near Nyanga setting up a workshop on his farm for local carvers. However on googling now the history seems to be longer, more complex and more interesting than I had first thought.
It seems that key to bringing Zim sculpture to world attention was Frank McEwen, first director of the (then) Rhodes National Gallery, now the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, back in the 60's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McEwenSo I guess it didn't start with the farmer but I do remember reading an article about him some years ago (hmmm could have been 20 or 30 years ago) So I would imagine that the basics of the that story are true especially as Nyanga is in an upland area not far from Mount Nyangani, Zimbabwe's highest peak and a source of local stone I believe.
Soapstone has been used a lot for tourist pieces. My mum bought some pieces back on her return trips there. But also a variety of other types stone for more serious / expensive works too. Serpentine is shown as one of the types of stone used here
http://www.zimsculpt.com/stones.htmlUnfortunately your flash has bleached out the dark base tone of your item. Does it have a greenish tinge ?
Pete
