Ceremonial Figure

Zulu and Tsonga figural carving is exceedingly rare. Only a very small corpus of figural objects are known from the Tsonga and related Northern Zulu groups, and the vast majority of these are objects are made for trade.

Probably originating to the North of the Zulu/Tsonga among the Shangaan, this figure was probably used during the initiation rites, and as such was probably the property of the chief initiator.

If the art of the neighboring Yao is any indication then the figure would have been made by an unskilled carver, or more precisely an individual who was not a carver as a professional vocation but may have had experience in carving clubs or weapons.

Such an object would be stored in a cave or some other natural shelter in between initiation cycles and would belong to the head of the initiation camp. Such a figure would have changed ownership by being handed down from one chief initiator to another.

The figure is enigmatic in that it does not present any sexual morphology at all. It is possible that like some Yao carvings, it was an image of a pubescent girl before she began to develop, in which case the figure would have been used for girls initiation. On the other hand, the figure may also represent the boys before they are truly considered men, and in a spiritual sense, are not yet gendered per se.

In any case, this large and important figure is among a very small corpus of South African carving that is both important and sizable, and requires further study.