There’s a quiet power to our African stone sculptures. At first, it’s the polish you notice; the soft sheen of serpentine, the dense veins of soapstone, the weight and rhythm of it all. Spend a little longer with a piece and something else begins to reveal itself – these works aren't simply created, but rather slowly brought to life.
Each piece is hand-carved by Zimbabwean artists, many of whom are Shona – a people whose relationship with stone (and the reimagining of its form) spans generations. Traditionally, their sculptures were figurative pieces, like animals and family groups, but today, the same techniques are often applied to more abstract forms. The shift isn’t about forgetting the past, but about carrying it forward and seeing it through a contemporary lens.
One of those artists is Tawanda Masvosva, a sculptor we've known for over two decades. He now has a workshop across the border in South Africa, where he works alongside other Zimbabwean artists. The stone is still quarried in Zimbabwe, and much of the carving and shaping happens there too, but South Africa offers better access to international markets and shipping, so the process now stretches across both countries.
We’ve watched as Tawanda met his wife, built a family, and turned his small operation into something much larger. And he’s not finished either; he one day hopes to open his own gallery to exhibit his work in the manner that it deserves. During the difficult years of the pandemic, when everything felt uncertain, we were able to keep supporting that work with regular orders. In a gesture that still humbles us, he named his fourth child Sidney. It was a quiet but powerful reminder of the kind of mutual trust and respect that underpins what we do - and why we do it.
Sculptors begin not with a sketch, but with the stone. They wait, watching its grain, its shape, the way colour moves across the surface. The first outline is drawn in charcoal; the carving begins with a punch and hammer. Some artists use grinders when they can. Others rely entirely on hand tools. The finishing comes last: smooth layers of sanding, then polish, heated and waxed until it glows.
The finished works may appear simple, even minimal, but they represent something substantial. There’s not only a weight of history in their form but also movement and balance. Whether tall and twisting or softly geometric, they bring a grounded presence to a space. A reminder of the land they came from, and of the hands that shaped them.
Because in the end, these sculptures are more than stone – they’re a conversation between artist and material, past and present, tradition and reinterpretation. They’re about holding something still long enough for it to speak. And they’re a testament to what can grow through time, trust, and shared respect for tradition, craftsmanship and the history of the handmade.
We currently have a few examples available to shop online, and we've also received a beautiful range of new pieces on our most recent African shipment.
View all of them below:
