Lot 85: COLLEEN MADAMOBE SHONA SCULPTURE

Shona Serpentine Sculpture, Zimbabwe, Colleen Madamombe (1964-2009). Signed lower back side. Measures 5 1/2"x5"x7 1/2". Weight 8 pds 14 oz. PROVENANCE: A Charleston SC Private Estate. Colleen Madamombe, born in 1964 in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe following independence in 1980) received her secondary education at school in Kutama, between 1979 and 1984. She obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts at the BAT Workshop School of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe from 1985–1986 and in 1986 she married the Zimbabwean sculptor Fabian Madamombe, with whom she later had seven children. Initially, she specialized in drawing and painting but in 1987 she went to help her husband in his sculpting at Chapungu Sculpture Park[1] where she started stone carving. Colleen became close friends with fellow female sculptor, Agnes Nyanhongo, and rapidly developed her own style of sculpting in the three years she stayed full-time at Chapungu. While some of her early work was inspired by observation of ants, bees, butterflies and caterpillars, Colleen became best known for her depiction of women and their Shona culture. She illustrated many themes of womanhood: women at work, harvesting, carrying water or children and giving birth. Her short, stout female figures quickly became a symbol of womanhood in Zimbabwe and were adopted by the Zimbabwean International Film Festival as the trophy award for all winning women entrants. She won the award “Best Female Artist of Zimbabwe” three times.

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