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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 9511302, member: 8267&quot;]I think your carving may depict a Zulu man, but the Zulu are not well known for being wood carvers themselves. </p><p><br /></p><p>It looks like the carver chose to use a weathered section of wood, with the roots preserved at the top of the piece. The sapwood appears to be entirely gone. It may be leadwood (Combretum imberbe), or African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon) - both very heavy species that occur in southern and eastern Africa. Both have been used by Makonde carvers, the most notable carvers in the regions of southeast Tanzania, northern Mozambique, and Kenya, and many older Makonde carvings were made in this way, preserving sections of the natural, uncarved wood.</p><p><br /></p><p>But I have not seen other examples of Makonde work that leave the adze marks so visible, particularly on a face. They more commonly have well finished and highly polished surfaces. The texturing on the beard, however, looks very similar to other Makonde work I have seen.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is an interesting piece.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is more information on the history of the Makonde and their tradition of wood carving -</p><p><a href="https://www.blackwoodconservation.org/makonde-art/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.blackwoodconservation.org/makonde-art/" rel="nofollow">https://www.blackwoodconservation.org/makonde-art/</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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