Mopho Gonde

A primarily self-taught artist, Mopho Gonde creates carvings of Africa’s wild animals in the unique medium of leadwood. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Mopho Gonde is now hailed as the finest wildlife sculptor in southern Africa utilizing leadwood. “The greatest thing about leadwood is that the hardwood trees need not be destroyed. This medium comes from dead trees, once pushed over by great elephants, which have laid in the African sun and rain for years and have almost become petrified”.

 

Like teak, leadwood is extremely hard and when polished turns a rich reddish color, giving it a wonderful earthy look. Mopho’s animal sculptures are painstakingly created by hand and capture the very essence of each animal in exacting detail. Because of the degree of workmanship that goes into creating each piece, Mopho's production is very limited. His work can be found in major collections worldwide.