Shona Sculpture is the name of the expansive community of Zimbabwean stone sculptors.

Who are the Shona People?

Most of the artists come from the Shona tribe, the largest in the country (over 80% of the population). The Shona have a long history of working in stone that dates back over a 1000 years. The sculpture community has grown so much that it is now the largest community of stone sculptors in the world today (on a per capita basis).

The Shona of Zimbabwe have always worked and lived with stone. The land is featured by rock outcroppings and rocky terrain. While there are examples of Shona sculpture such as the 6-foot soapstone birds found at the Great Zimbabwe that date back nearly a thousand years, Shona Sculpture is really a contemporary art form that was reborn in the late 1950's and 1960's.

Where is Zimbabe?

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southeastern Africa. Slightly larger than Montana, it is bordered by Zambia and the Zambezi river to the north, South Africa and the Limpopo river to the south, Botswana to the west and Mozambique and the Inyanga mountains to the east.

The population of Zimbabwe is currently estimated at over 12 million people. More than 80 percent of these people hail from the Shona tribe making it the most ethnically homogenous country in Africa. The Shona people have a rich cultural history dating back over 1000 years. They have survived many difficulties and attacks from the outside and remain a peaceful people who mainly farm and raise livestock. They have a strong sense of tribal culture, community and family. Recently Zimbabwe, once considered a very modern and almost garden-like country has fallen into famine and serious financial problems due to the current presidents unusual land reform policies.

The History of Shona Sculpture

Art for art sake was a foreign idea. Traditionally, African art was created for a specific religious or practical purpose. It took the prodding and helpful assistance of several individuals to encourage Shona artists to create art as an end in itself. Canon Edward Paterson of the Cyrene Mission, Father John Groeber of the Serima Mission, Joram Mariga at Nyanga, Frank McEwen of the National Gallery, and Tom Blomefield of Tengenenge, these are the pioneers, each of whom stimulated the artistic capabilities inherent in their Zimbabwean communities creating a movement which has gathered momentum since.

During the 1950's, the country then known as Southern Rhodesia developed their National gallery in the capital Salisbury, now Harare, to display a collection of western art. Frank McEwen, who was an established art critic and confident of Picasso, Matisse and Miro was the first and only choice for the position of curator of the newly established gallery. McEwen was intrigued, even before his appointment in Rhodesia, with the idea of introducing modern art forms to "primitive" sculptors.

After becoming the gallery's permanent director, he began informal workshops in which he taught painting and sculpture to native Rhodesians, including members of the largest tribe in, what is now known as Zimbabwe, the Shona. He taught the fundamentals of sculpturing, but did not influence them in the subject of their sculptures. Instead, he asked them to draw inspiration from their traditional folklore and mythical beliefs.

The result is an incredible array of styles and variations from the individual carvers' imagination. Today, there is also found, many carvers who specialise in "realism" sculptures, like busts of male and female and of animals.

Types of Stones used in Shona Sculpture

The Shona artists use a wide range of stone. In the west, it is wrongly thought that soapstone, a soft, easy to carve stone, is only used. But many carvers use the much harder stones such as, opal stone, black iron serpentine, spring stone, cobalt and the semi-precious stone, verdite.

Zimbabwe, while an arid land for the most part, is blessed with tremendous rock and mineral diversity. Massive and multiple rock outcroppings dot the landscape, providing inspiration and raw material for the sculptors. The first and most famous Shona sculptures were found in the Great Zimbabwe ruins near Masvingo (ceremonial soapstone eagles) and date back nearly a thousand years. Many of the stones available for carving are unique to Zimbabwe or found in few other parts of the world.

The stones are categorized by their hardness from 1 to 10, according to the Moh scale. The harder a stone, the greater the value attributed to it. A diamond is the hardest and rates a 10, while on the crumbly talc only rates a 1. Below are listed the most common stones used by the Shona sculptors (not necessarily in order) and their Moh scale hardness rating.

Verdite 7-9
Springstone 7
Lepidolite 6-7
Leopard Rock 6
Cobalt 6-7
Opalite/Opal Stone 5
Sepialite 5
Serpentine 3-5
Soapstone/Rapoko/Steatite 2-4

Additional stones carved: Wonderstone, Butter Jade, Red Sandstone/Red Jasper, and Granite.

Carving Shona Sculptures

After carving the rough shape of their creation, the sculptor then uses files and rasps to work the shape smoother until it's time to finish the surface with wet and dry sand paper. This process if often difficult and very time consuming. Once the sanding process is completed, the carving is then placed in front of a fire to heat it, then, bees wax is applied to the hot surface. The heat allows the wax to penetrate the stone to bring out the features and colour. Once the sculpture has cooled, it is buffed to a high gloss by hand rubbing with a cloth.

How Shona Sculpture Evolved from its early beginnings

Evolving from handfuls of individuals to the many thousands that sculpt stone exclusively today did not happen overnight. There were no formal schools for stone sculpture. An informal master/apprentice system gradually took hold. Family connections heavily influenced decisions to sculpt. Major international exhibitions of Shona sculpture starting being held in the 1970's, and today Shona sculpture is recognized on the world stage. Several years ago, a prominent London art critic remarked that "5 out of the 10 best stone sculptors in the world were from Zimbabwe."

The majority of first generation artists that brought Shona sculpture to the world's attention are mostly deceased now. Second and third generation artists eagerly fill their void. As the movement has grown, so have its influences. What was once insular is now worldly. Many artists have international exposure. They have opportunities to travel, study, and exhibit abroad. With this travel, new inspirations have been found. New forms and voices have been created, and these continue to represent and proliferate the core themes of the Shona people.

Artist's Skill Levels

In Zimbabwe there are thousands of artists who sculpt stone as their primary occupation. There are many different strata of artists as rated by their success and recognition.

The well known artists are at the top of the success pyramid. They live in nice homes in the best suburbs of Harare. They drive nice cars, send their kids to private schools, and travel abroad. The life of an up and coming artist would compare roughly to that of a person in the lower middle class here in the U.S. At the base of the pyramid are the lesser known artists who toil in relative obscurity. They, like millions of their fellow artists around the world, struggle to be heard and make a living from their creativity.

What is important to realize is that the overwhelming majority of stone sculptors are selling to an international market of collectors and galleries that pay above what local Zimbabweans can afford. Therefore those that consistently sell their work can do very well even in the turbulent times that Zimbabwe is experiencing presently. All artists negotiate their own prices as they see fit. Most artists prefer to pre-sell a sculpture directly, rather than consign the sculpture for an eventual higher price. That way they are able to turn over their sculptures and buy more stone to sculpt quickly with less risk.

Well known artists receive as much as 40% of the eventual selling price while lesser known artists can receive around 20% (remember - carvings are heavy and a substantial cost of the ultimate retail price is tied up in shipping costs).

The dollars that flow into the Zimbabwean economy carry much further than they would if spent in the U.S. due to the standard of living and relative costs. Stone sculptors fare better than most in their society and will continue to do so as long as tourism is allowed to flourish.

A note on buying Shona Sculpture:

First, buy what you like - and can afford.

There are many talented Shona artisans - a few are very well known, however most are obscure by Western standards. There are two basic types of sculptures, production pieces and collector "one-of-a-kind" pieces.

Some artisans create production pieces (similar style and design, repeated over and over - although each piece is unique in color and varies slightly in design or shape from piece to piece). There are several "qualities" of production pieces and even well known artisans often fall back on producing these "fast sellers" when they don't have a commission or haven't sold some of their individual works of art. That is to say, that just because a style or design is repeatedly does not mean its a factory-produced mass-roduced piece. Typically these pieces are smaller, of popular designs and very affordable as they are a staple of many artisans.

One-of-a-kind and master quality works are simply that - one-of-a-kind pieces that are truely unique and highly collectable works of art. HERE IS WHERE BUYER NEEDS TO BEWARE! There are many talented artisans, some quite well known, however again many of the artisans are basically unknown.

Soapstone is difficult to carve, ship and display (it can be broken and some pieces, especially those carved from soapstone can be scratched.) Top that with it is VERY HEAVY (and expensive) to ship and the fact that the country of Zimbabwe is basically collapsing and you can appreciate why some pieces, especially larger ones, are expensive in the U.S. and European markets.

There are several well known carvers who have large works of art displayed in both public museums and areas as well as in private galleries. Most of these are bonified artisans worthy of the high prices often charged. Most galleries and people selling Shona sculpture are legit and often do it not for a huge profit but to help the artisans.

However, know that there are also many SCAMS - where the work of many (sometimes dozens of artists) are displayed and sold as all having been carved by one carver. These pieces may be VERY MUCH WORTH what the prices that are being asked - and if you like a piece and feel it is a fair price - buy it! ... however it may not be carved by the artist whom it is being claimed carved it. Often the name of a famous artist will be placed on a piece to increase its value.

Recently a gallery that I am aware of featured the "work" of a Shona Carver. Several hundred pieces were displayed, all supposedly carved by this one young (early 20's) artist. The pieces varied wildly in quality and design theme. It would have been physically impossible for this young man to carve even half of the pieces, even if he had been carving since early childhood. The artist was simply a FRONT for other artists. He was a living person of African descent who gave a face to potential clients - who felt better putting out thousands of dollars to purchase sculptures because they had met the artist.

Obviously the people were happy and they have a great story to share with their friends.. but it may be based on a lie. Now you might say, fair is fair - if someone buys a piece (and has that much money to spend) and they are not willing to do a little research, and if they like the piece... the only downside comes to the artists themselves.

In a situation like this, obviously the gallery gets a share (and shipping and housing a show usually costs a fair amount of money so often galleries don't make a ton) as does the individual artists (although we've known a few of these scammers to take pieces from the artist on consignment and then never pay them..keeping the money for themselves), often the middle man (self proclaimed artist) gets the bulk. BUYER BEWARE!

When buying Shona, note that most artists don't sign their name - but ASK for a photo of the artisan, and on larger pieces it is not uncommong to ask for pictures of the artist with the piece(s).

Caring for Shona / Soapstone carvings:

Sculptures displayed indoors will only need an occasional dusting.

Sculptures that are exhibited outdoors or in direct sunlight will need to be re-waxed occasionally.

Stone sculptures can be damaged in a couple ways. Either they come in contact with a harder sharp surface that chips or scratches the sculpture, or they can fall and break.

Scratches will look like a white line on the stone. This is the crushed particles of the stone refracting the light, not an indication that the stone has been colored. Pieces that have minimal damage or are scratched can also be easily fixed. There are limitations to what can be repaired. Multiple fractures and many pieces make it nearly impossible to repair, but you would be surprised at how nicely most damage can be returned to new.

For small scratches, use VERY FINE grade sandpaper and sand the finish (this will remove the shiny wax - don't worry you can get it back!) Remove any excess dust (if sanding a larger area use a respirator or face mask and try not to inhale the fine dust. We recommend practicing first on a non-visible area to test your skill!

We recommend A thin layer of SC Johnson Paste Wax if a sculpture's finish has become dull. The sculpture or stone must be warmed before the wax is applied.

Apply the wax to the warmed stone either placed outside in direct sunlight or you can place smaller sculptures into a pre-heated oven at 250 degrees (use oven mits or similar and carefully remove from oven and place on a heat-resistent stable platform. Apply the wax using a soft cloth, working it into the stone. Allow stone to cool and then buff with a soft cotton cloth to bring up a shine.