African Carved Wooden Figurine

Hi,

I had assumed that this was a modern souvenir...so many of them around... but it did come from my late aunt, who was an auctioneer so I'm wondering why she had it since it's not exactly her style.

The wood is very dark and pretty soft. It almost feels like charcoal. I'm assuming coil around the neck is copper. She's holding some kind of bottle.

Anyway, just double checking. Thanks in advance for any insights you can share.

 

It's really nice. I thought she was holding a child at first. I don't know much about African carvings though.

 

Your figure is a style meant to represent an Ndebele woman of South Africa, wearing the neck rings that signify a married woman. These are popular with tourists, and so are made by a variety of artisans in Africa. If the wood is soft, it has probably been stained (sometimes with shoe polish) to appear more like east African carvings made with African blackwood/ebony, which is a very hard wood. Perhaps it was also smoked over a fire to give it the appearance of age, which may have made it more friable. (Speculating here on this last point.) I am sorry to say it is not a particularly well carved example - your aunt may just have liked it.

 

It may have been in a fire and the wood became charred.

She may be holding an offering.

James.

 

Thank you! The wood is definitely soft, almost like charcoal, like I said. Really interesting about the possibility of it being 'smoked'. Might explain the fact that I can literally draw pictures with it!