Guruve is advertising this sculpture for sale on behalf of a private collector in the UK. They acquired it in 2016. The piece was said to be “from the estate of a well-travelled Californian collector”; sadly there was no further information with the sculpture. It could be quite an early work.
We are using the title given by a Zimbabwean colleague. He is Zezuru, ‘old Shona’. He said,
“In the spirit world, he might have been thinking about generational spirits coming together and taking care of their offspring. We had comments like ‘uyu i zai regondo’ which means he/she is an eagle’s egg. The parents would be giving that particular child too much attention and caring. The key is the attention from a couple.”
So the protective spirits of the child hover around, keeping a watchful eye and generally over-parenting… gives a new African meaning to helicopter parents!
Recently, Guruve fully restored this sculpture, so it is in superb condition. Boira has signed it on the back, clearly visible in the photos.
