A really delightful sculpture of a beautiful lady’s head; she’s a perfect example of Rufaro’s precise and detailed work. He is one of Zimbabwe’s finest representational sculptors, reflected in his numerous successes at the national NAMA awards.
This interesting stone, a creamy green with black speckles, occurs in the mountainous Nyanga region of Eastern Zimbabwe. Unsurprisingly, famous artist Claud Nyanhongo (who came from Nyanga) favoured this variety. It’s lovely to see Rufaro working with a piece of Nyanga serpentine, as it’s not so common these days.
The dark brown of her hair is the weathered surface of the original raw stone before it was worked. Often in Zimbabwean sculpture, artists choose to leave some of this original surface and texture. It creates an interesting contrast with the smooth sculpted stone, to remind us where the stone has come from. Rufaro has picked out the lines of her hair with a tungsten carbide chisel.
She is great value for money and would also make a super gift – an original work of art, signed by the artist and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. In addition, we provide a copy of Rufaro’s biography, with a photo of him with this piece. There’s also a brief history of the Shona sculpture movement.
