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Tafadzwa Mandala
"Newborn Child, " signed by Tafadzwa Mandala

2004

$5,940
£4,511.58
€5,189.14
CA$8,299.34
A$9,254.71
CHF 4,828.71
MX$113,558.76
NOK 61,461.81
SEK 58,233.73
DKK 38,728.46
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About the Item

"Newborn Child" is a signed springstone sculpture by Shona artist Tafadzwa Mandala. It weighs approximately 90 pounds and depicts a robed mother with her newborn child. 29 1/2" x 13 1/2" x 7" sculpture, 90 lbs Tafadzwa E. Mandala was born in 1984 in Harare, the son of the world renowned sculptor Peter Mandala, one of the first generation sculptors. He grew up around stones and tools and at the age of six he started sculpting when his father gave him his trade tool to play with. He left school after completing four years of high school at Cranborne Boys High School. Tafadzwa started out by doing craft work, but has come to specialize in artistic creations in beautifully finished black serpentine, fruit serpentine and springstone. His sculptures range in size with subjects that are almost always based on human expressions. His works are characterized with a U and T eyes and straight lines. When he is not working, Tafadzwa enjoys reading art books. His works can be found in the USA, Holland, Germany, France, Austria, Australia, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Betten UK. It has always been his dream to communicate through the art of Shona sculpture. Shona artists and crafts people have been working in different media for generations. These include paintings, pottery, basket ware, wood carvings, and sculpture done in metal as well as the stone carvings. While there is not a long standing tradition of sculpture in what is now Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia), stone carvings dating from the 15th century were seen in Great Zimbabwe, an excavated temple near Bulawayo. Most of the artifacts from this location have been moved to museums in Cape Town, South Africa or London. It is generally agreed that Zimbabwean stone sculpture as seen today began during the late colonial period of the 1950's and 1960's. During this period the artists and artisans depicted many of the traditional Shona and other tribal spiritual myths. Out of all the nations in Africa, the large varieties and abundant supplies of rock formations present throughout the Zimbabwe landscape provide artists with a medium for sculpture and carvings unique to their country. The Shona art sculpture of Zimbabwe combines the wonderful varieties presented by the stone with images drawn both from reality and abstract symbolism. Much of the stone used by Shona artists is quarried in areas which are adjacent or quite near the villages where the work is created. Often the land on which the stone is found is owned by the village or the local artists. The artists use stone such as Serpentine (somewhat old, having been formed about 2.6 billion years ago), with more than 200 color variations. The hardest and darkest of the Serpentine varieties is black, commonly known as Springstone or Africa stone. The wonderful natural character of 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, shape, density and quantity used of serpentine, verdite, sandstone, granite, steatite and other stones define the ultimate presentation of completed Shona art sculptures and carvings.
  • Creator:
    Tafadzwa Mandala (Shona, Zimbabwean)
  • Creation Year:
    2004
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 13.5 in (34.29 cm)Depth: 7 in (17.78 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 11532g1stDibs: LU60532069573

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