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Sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench reading together from the same book. It was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, in Zimbabwe. The people’s bodies are sculpted from stone, and the bench, arms, legs, heads and hats, are all metal, welded and soldered together.
Sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench reading together from the same book. It was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, in Zimbabwe. The people’s bodies are sculpted from stone, and the bench, arms, legs, heads and hats, are all metal, welded and soldered together.
Sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench reading together from the same book. It was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, in Zimbabwe. The people’s bodies are sculpted from stone, and the bench, arms, legs, heads and hats, are all metal, welded and soldered together.
Sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench reading together from the same book. It was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, in Zimbabwe. The people’s bodies are sculpted from stone, and the bench, arms, legs, heads and hats, are all metal, welded and soldered together.
Sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench reading together from the same book. It was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, in Zimbabwe. The people’s bodies are sculpted from stone, and the bench, arms, legs, heads and hats, are all metal, welded and soldered together.
Sculpture of a couple sitting on a bench reading together from the same book. It was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, in Zimbabwe. The people’s bodies are sculpted from stone, and the bench, arms, legs, heads and hats, are all metal, welded and soldered together.
Charles Fundisi

Reading Together

$195.00
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8.5Hx8Wx5.5D – 4 lbs.-FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL USA – Discount available for local purchase.

This sculpture was created from a combination of rapoko stone (a soft serpentine), and metal, by the Zimbabwean artist, Charles Fundisi. The people are first shaped in two pieces (top half, and bottom half which are later glued together), using a combination of chisels, rasps (files), and sometimes a grinder. At that point, the stone is just a greyish/whitish color. Once shaped, the sculpture will still be rough because of the rasp’s rough teeth, so the next stage is sanding to get the texture smooth. Each grit of sandpaper, from the roughest to the finest, is used until the stone is super smooth. When the sculpture is all shaped, it is still that greyish/whitish color (which are left like that in the trousers on the right, and shirt on the left, and both are left with some texture). The piece is then washed, heated with a fire, or blow torch, and then, when hot, the floor wax is applied, usually with a brush (in this piece only the shirt on the right, and dress on the left, are polished). Since the stone is hot, the wax melts into the stone, and then when it cools down, the polished area is buffed out with a cloth, bringing it to a shine. Holes are drilled into the stone for the heads, arms, feet, and for the pin in the bottom which is welded to the bench. Those pins are glued into the stone. The bench, arms, legs, heads and hat are all metal, welded and soldered together.

Because each sculpture is created by hand, the coloration in each stone is different, as is the metal work, the sculpture you are looking at is exactly the one you will receive. Please keep in mind that because these are natural stones, there are always flaws and imperfections. We have taken the clearest photos possible to show everything, but we believe that is also the beauty of these sculptures, that they were not produced in a factory, but rather by actual people, using natural stones quarried in the hills and mountains of Zimbabwe.

SOME PINS ARE NOT GLUED INTO THE STONE, SO SOME MOVEMENT IS NORMAL.