The Types of Stone used in Zimbabwean Shona Sculptures About the stones used in Zimbabwe From Semi-precious Verdite to the various 225 colors and shades of Serpentine - the stones of Zimbabwe are some of the best carving stones in the world. More than 250 ores and combinations of serpentine have been identified in Zimbabwe. It is the complex combination of these minerals and the thousands of years that they have been in the ground to create their hardness’s that create the amazing cross section of raw material that is so unique to Zimbabwean stones used for carving. Today’s Artists use a variety of stones mined in Zimbabwe with the most common being Serpentine (more that 225 different shades and colors). Other stones include Opal Stone, Verdite, Wonderstone, Red Jasper, Butter Jade, Springstone and Cobalt etc. An artist will pick stones specifically for its color, striations and contours, hence he will pick a stone for what he or she sees in the raw form. During the Sculpting of a raw stone the Artist develops a relationship with the stone and depending on the form, carves a sculpture without sketches or drawings.  The stone dictates to the artist the subject that will emerge from within its core. A brief overview of the sculpting process   Still today Zimbabwean Sculptors do all of their rough shaping with simply a hammer and chisel. Then still using other hand tools they move on to such things as a chisel & file to complete more of the final shaping and texture.  Once a piece is to the finishing stage, the artist will use a wet sanding process from approx. a 200grit all the way up to a 3000 grit wet sand. This produces the silk like finish you will find on these amazing creations.  Next to get the polish, to lock in the natural color of the piece it is placed in a fire or a paraffin torch is used to heat the stone and prepare it for the final coat of polish. Next is to apply a thin, & even, clear, or sometimes slightly colored(black) coat of polish which melts and absorbs into the slight pores of the stone, which brings out and seals in the stone’s rich colors. To see a complete example of the carving methods please go to the Method of Carving page. Stone type and its influence on the price of a sculpture The value of a sculpture is determined firstly by how collectable the artist is, the rarity of the raw stone, the type of stone and finally the hardness of the stone chosen. The harder the stone, the more time it takes to carve and the more expensive it is to purchase.  We also tend to forget that all of our artists have to pay for their raw stone and this plays a big roll in the final cost of a piece as well. Thus, for example, the price of a piece of artwork in Verdite will be multiples of an equivalent piece in Soapstone or a plain Serpentine. Please see the graphic below for a summary of the stone types. We at Murungo have taken artists many times to different mines and helped source the raw stones for them to work on.  We currently have people on the ground in Zimbabwe on a day to day basis going to different mines and sourcing raw stones for artists. Stone Types Verdite Verdite has a unique Emerald looking quality with brown and green striations and is known as “African jade”.  It is a semi-precious stone which is unfortunately becoming extremely rare and therefore increasingly more valuable. It is actually mined as a by-product of corundum mining. It is also a very difficult process of separating the two stones. Today it is becoming very hard to find pieces of Verdite that are not completely contaminated with corundum and are useful for our artists, making the stone even rarer.  The age of the stone is also a factor in its value. Verdite is over 3.5 Billion years old. It is an extremely hard stone and only the more experienced sculptor will venture into sculpting with it. Verdite can range in color from emerald green to beige and have all the colors in one single piece. Deep Green is the most popular color. On the Mohs hardness scale Verdite rates approx.  8.5-9.2. This stone is suitable for outdoors, which gives us in North America more applications for the final sculptures. Verdite will not need to be repolished from exposure to sunshine for a very long time.   Wonderstone Unlike Serpentine and Verdite, Wonderstone does not display color variations, it is however a very hard stone and is virtually indestructible. The only known deposits of Wonderstone in the world are in Zimbabwe & South Africa and it is also referred to as “Africa Stone”. Approx. 6.0-8.5 This stone is also suitable for indoors and outdoors. Wonderstone as with Verdite will not need to be repolished for exposure to sunlight for a very long time. This is because it is very dense and the sun does not penetrate the pours of the stone easily.   African Jade / Butter Jade African Jade is a semi-precioius gemstone with various shades of green.  It is composed of green Garnet which is mined in Africa and resembles Nephrite Jade in appearance. There is also Butter Jade that has a creamy yellow color and is very popular as well. African Jade is a complex Calcium Aluminum Silicate, composed of massive Grossular Garnet, colored bright green by trace amounts of chromium. Its hardness is approx, 6.0-8.0.             Springstone Springstone is one of the hardest stones used for sculpturing in Zimbabwe. It is said to get its name by original sculptors, that when they would work on it with hammer and chisel, their tools would spring off of the stone because it was so hard. When you are working on this stone you will hear the ping of steel on steel when you hit it with a hammer and chisel. There are a few mines where this stone is found, but Guruve, in the north of Zimbabwe, is where springstone is mainly mined. A beautiful dark brown stone, it polishes to a high shine because of its density. A feature of this stone is it will often have a softer brown layer, which adds to the appeal. As with most other stones that are mined for the purpose of sculpturing, this stone is mined by hand. Many people will consider Springstone and Black Serpentine to be the same when they are not.  It can be differentiated from Black Serpentine by two easy features. When you compare the two stones in the raw form, Springstone will appear grey like concrete and Black Serpentine with have a green huge instead of the grey. Also when polished, Springstone will polish to a very dark brown with clear polish and Black Serpentine will polish jet black. Its hardness is approx. 6.0-8.0. The hardness of Springstone makes it idea for positioning outdoors. The surface remains shinny no matter what the temperature. It is ideal for very large pieces of work because it can be quarried in solid pieces weighing a number of tons.   Black Serpentine Very similar in hardness to Springstone Black Iron Serpentine derives its 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. Its hardness is approx. 6.0 - 8.0.                     Purple Cobalt / Lapedolite Purple Cobalt / Lapedolite is a relatively new stone For Murungo. We have recently started supplying it to a select few of our artists. This stone is absolutely brilliant. It has a fantastic deep purple color when polished. It is extremely hard and thus hard to sculpt. It is fantastic for outdoor applications and will stand up to any weather. Its hardness is approx. 6.5-8.0.       Fruit Serpentine Fruit is one of the hardest of the serpentines. It is virtually non-porous and finishes to an amazing high shine. I can be found in a array of absolutely breath taking colors. It is one of the most sought after of stones because of its ability for be finished to such a high shine. Its hardness is approx. 6.5 - 8.0.               Serpentine There are more than 225 specific ores and combinations of serpentine that have been identified in Zimbabwe. It is the complex combination of these minerals that create an extremely unique variety of mediums for Zimbabwe’s artists. Serpentine rock was formed approximately 2.6 million years ago. Because of its many color combinations and differences in mineral percentages serpentine can rate from approx. 2.0-4.5 on Mohs scale. Fruit serpentine being one of the hardest Serpentine combinations, pushing  a hardness of 6.5-8.0.   Opal Stone Opalstone is famous for its milky light colored greens with orangey iron deposits combine with its smooth texture. It is also unique in that it has fewer color variations than Serpentine. This stone is also known as Opalite to the locals and is mined by hand in a pit mine at Chiweshe, about two hours north of Harare. You will find different variations of Opal Stone.  Lemon opal which is slightly harder than plain Opal as well as Camouflage Opal. Opal stone is one of the favorites of carvers, as it’s not as hard as springstone and other serpentines, but still polishes to a high finish. Opalstone also has, at times, a brown color throughout the predominate green. The appearance can be smooth or mottled. As with most of the stones mined for the purpose of sculpturing, opalite is mined without the use of automotive tools. On the Mohs hardness scale, Opal rates approx. 3.0-5.0. This stone is suitable for indoors and outdoors but will need to be polished on occasion. Opal Stone Lemon Opal Camouflage Opal   Red Sandstone Red Sandstone also referred to as “Red Jasper” because of its shiny red finish is a beautiful earth-tone sandstone comprised of layers of quartz, clay and iron deposits. On the Mohs hardness scale it rates between -2.0-3.5 depending on its iron deposits and quartz.   Soapstone (Rapoko) Soapstone is a natural soft stone and is sometimes referred to as Rapoko stone in Zimbabwe depending on its colors. Its remarkable qualities have made soapstone one of the most widely used art minerals on earth. In Zimbabwe, one of the many places where high quality soapstone is found is the Mashava mine. The hardness of soapstone is approx 1.0-3.0.   MOH'S HARDNESS SCALE   10 diamond hardest materials known to man 9 corundum (ruby/sapphire) harder than topaz 8 topaz harder than quartz 7 quartz scratches glass 6 microcline suitable for gems 5 apatite about the hardness of teeth 4 fluorite cannot be scratched with a nail 3 calcite difficult to scratch with a nail 2 gypsum easily scratched with a nail 1 talc very soft, chalk like      Relative Value of Stone (decreasing order) HARDNESS STONE     8.5-9.2 Verdite 6.5-8.0 Fruit Serpentine 6.0-8.0 African Jade / Butter Jade 6.0-8.5 Wonder Stone 6.5-8.0 Purple Cobalt 6.0-8.0 Springstone 6.0-8.0 Black Serpentine 3.0-5.0 Opal Stone 2.0-4.5 Serpentine 2.0-4.5 Cobalt 2.0-3.5 Red Jasper 1.0-3.0 Soapstone