Makonde Sculpture-anyone here collect/have knowledge on?

[hotspur]

I inherited a large collection of Makonde sculptures,some are quite large,and many appear to be made from a heavy black wood,some are even
made from rock.I am not sure how to go about selling all these,the chap the left them all to me said I might be able sell them and buy some camera gear-not sure if there really worth a great deal.The chap collected them all many years ago in Africa.Not sure what to do with all these -they are rather bizarre looking and imagine there would be limited appeal for these.

Thought there might be a gallery worker here that might have some knowledge on these sculptures.Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Paddy de Klerk]

Greetings Hotspur, Pretty sure that what you have in your possession have there origins in Zimbabwe. The Thsona peoples, one of the two major ethnic groups, the other being the Matabele have a proud tradition of being carvers of note . Doubt if the timber pieces would be Ebony though. Pretty well all the work I came across was finished with good old black boot polish, and then polished . About all the carvers would have been able to afford, being a tribal tradition passed on over generations i.e.
The stone work, type slips my mind , was of a local source, finished with rasps & wet & dry water papers. Which again beggars belief in terms of the finish , as the cost of paper would have been equally costly. The rough carvings would have been "smoothed " with similar stone & subsequently polished to the degree of what your specimens have.
Regarding your wish to dispose of them . Would look good in any astronomers garden (stone pieces ). The timber bits,out of the weather & undercover . Curio outlets, specialising in African artefacts might be of help. Zimbabwe over the years, Along with Robert Mugabes`management , has as its main souvenir item ,believe it or not Zim dollars !!!.Not unusual to see a $25 million note, which would probably be enough for a loaf of bread.
On a light but sad note, a fellow pushing wheel barrow filled with Zim dollars had his wheel barrow hijacked.! Cheers, Paddy

[Wavytone]

Not worth much, the appeal is aesthetic - maybe. The internet is flooded with modern ones from Africa, and also its very hard to say without seeing them first-hand whether they're worth any more than those.

As to appeal... well... i have a very modern minimalist apartment, with a rather handsome African Benin bronze Oba head perched on one of my floor-standing tower speakers, and an Ashanti doll standing on the other... - much more interesting than a plaster bust of boring old Beethoven/Mozart, and looks fine !

Hmm... must play Malcolm Mclaren's 'Soweto' when I get home...