Zizwezenyanga Qwabe (c. 1900-late 1960s or early 1970s)
Zulu
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Eastern and Southern Africa
Storage-Rack Panel
INV-1987
Zizwezenyanga Qwabe (c. 1900-late 1960s or early 1970s)
Zulu
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Eastern and Southern AfricaLate 1920s/40s
Storage-Rack Panel
Zizwezenyanga Qwabe (c. 1900-late 1960s or early 1970s) Zulu KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Eastern and Southern Africa →zuluArts of Africasouth africanafrican Artsculpturedecorative arts
Date
Late 1920s/40s
Medium
Boxwood
Dimensions
14 × 67.4 × 1.6 cm (5 1/2 × 26 1/2 × 5/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by Cynthia and Terry E. Perucca and Marshall Field
Born into a family of carvers, Ntzinyanga Qwabe is well known for sculpting panels for the racks used in a Zulu homestead for storing rolled grass mats or draping blankets. He applied the traditional pokerwork technique (using a heated poker to decorate wood with burn marks) to depict people and scenes of Zulu life on these panels. One presents a cattle kraal (corral) and a seated chief meeting with a group of men.
Produced in the first half of the 20th century, Qwabe’s work captured the attention of white South Africans at a time when rural life was undergoing significant change. Despite the restrictive format, Qwabe’s compositions suggest depth and movement through figures that overlap as well as vary in their scale and position. Contemporary visual sources such as cigarette cards and photographs may have informed his style.
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