This beautiful sculpture was masterfully carved out of butter jade by the world-renowned artist Farai Mangenda of Zimbabwe. It is signed and dated on verso.
Butter Jade is a creamy yellowish semi-precious stone native to Zimbabwe found in the mines. Estimated to be 50 million years old, it features high-density green marbling and dendritic veining which is known to consist of fossilized algae.
Farai Mangenda is a world-renowned sculptor based in Zimbabwe. Born in Nyanga, Farai picked up sculpting at an early age in 1994. He specializes in sculpting figurative busts from hard stone such as butter jade, springstone, fruit serpentine, and verdite. He has several brothers including Lovemore and Sakesai who are also excellent sculptors.