Page 43 - Zimbabwe Stone Sculpure 1st Edition

Lepidolite is a beautiful purple stone that comes from the granite areas around Mutoko, a town in the rural north east of Zimbabwe. It is a very hard stone with many crystals. It is difficult to carve and so requires special tungsten-tipped tools to shape it. For this reason only a few artists such as Lazarus Takawira and Freddy Mariga use it.
Opal Stone is a type of serpentine. It has a light green colour and a very smooth texture and is quite a hard stone. The main source is a mine at Chiweshe, a rural area north of the capital Harare.
Serpentine is the most common stone used. It is found in many places throughout Zimbabwe but the best stone comes from the northern Great Dyke, a mineral-rich ridge created by a volcanic intrusion that runs along the central watershed of the country. The sculptors prefer the harder serpentines, like black serpentine, because of their durability and shiny dark finish. The black colour also helps to define the pure lines and forms created by them without the distraction of a bright colour. However, serpentine can vary from orange, green to brown and black and the basic rule is that the lighter the colour, the softer the stone.
“... certain artists prefer particular stone because it works well with the imagery they like to express.”
ThE STONE
LEPIDOLITE OPAL STONE
SERPENTINE
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