The Stones

Zimbabwe’s Shona art is most visibly defined by the contemporary sculptures, hand-carved from natural stone.  Shona sculptors believe everything has a spirit, and this belief extends to plants, animals and rocks. Sculptors use simple handmade tools to “release the spirit trapped within” the different varieties of stones used. The most often-used stone is serpentine, a hard igneous rock prevalent across parts of Zimbabwe.  There is broad range of serpentine ores and combinations available in Zimbabwe, offering a broad catalog of color variations and textures from which the  artist can create stone sculptures as a way of expressing themselves.  Women are often a significant source of inspiration for the art, resulting in art pieces with themes such as:  “mother and child”, “dancing girl” and “expectant mother”.

The value of a sculpture is determined to a great extent by the hardness of the stone from which it is created, as well as by the rarity of the stone. The harder the stone, the more time and effort it takes to carve a sculpture from.  As a result, artwork created from Verdite will cost more that artwork created from Soapstone, a much softer stone.  The following is a compilation of some of the most commonly used stones in Zimbabwean stone sculpture.  The stones are presented in order of hardness on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness (Mohs hardness scale rating). As a point of reference, Diamond has Mohs hardness scale rating of 10.

Soapstone is a metamorphic rock sometimes referred to as Rapoko stone in Zimbabwe.  Soapstone is also known as steatite or soaprock.  Steatite is relatively soft (because of the high talc content, talc being one on the Mohs hardness scale), and may feel soapy when touched, hence the name. It’s remarkable qualities have made soapstone one of the most widely used art minerals on earth. In Zimbabwe, high quality soapstone is found at the Mashava mine.  Mashava is in the Masvingo district, 5 hours south of Harare. As with all the stones used for sculpturing, except the semi-precious verdite, soapstone is mined with crow bars, picks and shovels only. Although somewhat soft, soapstone is a very dense stone and is denser than marble, slate, limestone and even granite. If anything is spilled on the stone, it will remain on the surface of the stone, and not penetrate the surface. Soapstone is found on every continent in the world and has been used by native people all over the world for thousands of years. Items have been found in igloos as far north as the artic, the tombs of pharaohs, palaces of China and India, mountains and valleys of the arid plains of Africa . It’s mineral composition is 40-50% talc, 40-50% magnesite and 5-8% penninite.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  2.0 – 3.0

Dolomite rock is a sedimentary carbonate rock composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg(CO₃)₂ found in crystals.  It is often  pinkish in color, but can also be colorless, white, yellow, gray or even brown or black when iron is present in the crystal. Luster is pearly to vitreous to dull. Crystals are transparent to translucent.  Associated Minerals: include calcite, sulfide ore minerals, fluorite, barite, quartz and occasionally gold.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  3.5 – 4.0

Serpentine refers to any of about 20 varieties of common rocks resulting from rock-forming hydrous magnesium iron phyllosilicate ((Mg, Fe)₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄) minerals.  They may contain minor amounts of other elements including chromium, manganese, cobalt and nickel. The Serpentine Group of rocks is said to owe its name either to its serpent-like colors and patterns or an old belief that the stones were effective protection from snake bites. The stone has a range of over 200 colors.  Found in many deposits throughout Zimbabwe its colors vary from black to brown to green, orange and variegated. Hardness level varies from very soft to very hard. The majority of sculptors today, however do not carve from soft serpentine, but rather select deposits of rock that are hard and therefore more durable.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  2.5 – 4.0

• Fruit Serpentine is often a very colorful stone, with deep veins of variated strata. Because of its beauty it is one of the most sought after stones, renowned for its fine finish, durability and hardness. Fruit Serpentine is also sometimes known as Kwekwe Serpentine, named for the Kwekwe area southwest of Harare where it is mined.
• Black Serpentine derives it’s name from the deposits of iron found in it and is one of the hardest and darkest stones found in Zimbabwe. It has the most amazing black lustrous finish that resembles the black opal and is highly sought after because of its fine finish, durability and hardness.

Opal Stone (or Chiweshe Serpentine) is famous for its milky light colored greens with orange iron deposits and also for its smooth texture. Opal Stone is also known as Opalite to the locals. Opalite is a fairly hard stone finely textured with an almost translucent surface sometimes specked with red, orange and bluish dots and patches. It is mined by hand in a pit mine at Chiweshe, about two hours north of Harare. There are different variations of Opal Stone;  Lemon Opal which is slightly harder than Plain Opal, as well as Camouflage Opal. Lemon Opal stone is easily identified by contrasting yellow striations within the stone. Opalite is one of the favorites of sculptors because it is not as hard as Springstone and other Serpentines, but still polishes to a high finish. Opal Stone sculptures are suitable for indoors and outdoors but will need to be polished on occasion.

Mohs hardness scale rating: 3.0 – 5.5

Cobalt is a brittle, relatively rare hard metal, closely resembling iron and nickel in appearance. It is a stunningly beautiful stone, often purple in colouration with a variation of yellow and white markings and stripes throughout. It can also often have brown/orange markings.

Mohs hardness scale rating: 5.0 – 6.0

Red Jasper is composed of silicon dioxide and like other jaspers tends to be very colorful, opaque and massive, lacking patterns. It is found commonly throughout the world.  Red Jasper is thought to bring emotional balance and soothes heart-aches.

Mohs hardness scale rating: 6.0 – 70

Butter Jade (African Jade) is a semi-precious gemstone with various shades of green or a creamy yellow color and dark striations throughout.  It is sometimes also known as Butterstone.  Although it is called ‘jade’, it is not however a true jade. The striations found in the attractive yellow-green sedimentary rock are actually layers containing fossilized algae. The stone is typically around 50 million years old.  It is composed of green Garnet which is mined in Africa and resembles Nephrite Jade in appearance.  African Jade is a complex Calcium Aluminum Silicate, composed of massive Grossular Garnet, colored bright green by trace amounts of chromium.

Mohs hardness scale rating: 6.0 – 8.0

Springstone is a very hard serpentine with high iron content and a fine texture.  Spring stone is one of the hardest stones used for sculpturing in Zimbabwe. It often has no cleavages and its firmness offers significant resistance to the sculptor. Springstone has a rich outer “blanket” of reddish brown oxidized rock. A beautiful dark stone, it polishes to a high shine because of its density. It may also have a softer brown infusion which adds to its look. It takes its name from the fact that the tools used to carve it tend to bounce or “spring” off the stone without marking it. Many Shona sculptors opt for springstone due to its radiant sheen and often-flawless coloring.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  6.0 – 8.0

Leopard Rock This stone has striking patterns of light and dark green mottling, similar to a leopard, hence the name. Leopard rock is a member of the quarts family.  A beautifully coloured stone with spock marks similar to a leopard, hence the name, of yellow and black. These are inclusions of the ferromagnesian mineral, olivine. Leopard Rock is an olivine rich serpentine (known geologically as dunite) which forms part of a serpentine complex 2.6 billion years old.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  6.5 – 7.0

Verdite is a semi-precious or rare stone found in Zimbabwe.  It ranges in color from emerald to blue to brown. Its hardness is greater than that of most stones, including serpentine, making it a challenging sculpting medium. Verdite is over 3.5 million years old and is highly sought after. It is only found in Southern Africa, with the highest quality being found at deposits in Zimbabwe. It’s rarity also makes Verdite highly prized. It has a unique Emerald-like look and quality with brown and green striations.  Verdite, also known as Green Gold.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  7.0 – 9.2

Lapidolite/Lepidolite (Lithia mica) is a semi-precious mineral of the mica group, containing lithium. Lepidolite must be handled with care to prevent fractures. It is commonly a pink to pink-violet or purple in color, and can have inclusions of dark pink or rubelite tourmaline and sparkly mica present.  With its brilliant purple hue, is most striking in natural daylight.

Mohs hardness scale rating:  2.5 – 3.0.  There is some disagreement over the Mohs hardness scale rating of Lapidolite, with a number of Zimbabwean sculptors stating that Lapidolite is in  fact as hard as, if not harder than Verdite.  As such, Lapidolite stone sculptures from Zimbabwe are highly priced.  The sculptors believe the Zimbabwean mineral is of a similar hardness to quartz, not calcite.