The Profusion of Africa in One Ring

I bought a cabochon-cut Tanzanite stone in Tanzania in August at the Cultural Heritage Center in Arusha. And when I returned home, I brought it to my go-to jewelry artists at Tinsel to have it set.

I thought about a pendant but I already have a pendant from Tinsel. So I decided on a ring instead. But Tanzanite is a soft stone and if it is set in a ring, it must be well-protected from harm or else you risk chips, cracks and absolute destruction. So we decided to have it set in an over-the-top African Safari cocktail ring. It is deep-set and protected by a menagerie of African animals cast in silver.

It is surrounded by an elephant, ...

 a chimpanzee, ...

a leopard, ...

 a lion and a meerkat, ...

 ... and a Cape Buffalo!

The actual finger ring ...

is a conga line of crocodiles!

Ain't nothing gonna harm that Tanzanite!

 It is the profusion of Africa in one ring!

The artist and designer is Mariet van Zyl and she created a series of similar pieces which portray The Profusion of Africa in One Ring.

one in oxidised silver

and another in gold-plated silver

You can see (and purchase) her work currently on display at the Tinsel Gallery along with other artists' pieces in an exhibition called Precious Obsession.

Except for my precious obsession. To see my ring, you are going to have to invite me over for cocktails!

Anniversary Linnware

Happy Anniversary Darlene!

We went back to Collector's Treasury to look for some more Linnware to add to our growing South African collection. (And to buy some pieces to commemorate our 35th wedding anniversary - we are not quite yet finished celebrating our big September wedding anniversary!)






First, three containers in interesting shapes and colors for me.

an unusual mushroom colored bowl

an interestingly shaped azure blue urn

a soft mauve pink container

Happy Anniversary Vince!

And the best find of all, for Vince ... this very old and rare yellow paperweight / pen holder!
The earliest iteration of the Ceramic Studio brand, the circa 1910 paperweight was made using the Cullinan trademark.

Before The Ceramic Studio began creating what became known as Linnware, the Cullinan family had long cherished the idea of running a pottery factory in South Africa. During its brief existence , Sir Thomas Cullinan built a special "potters' village" and factory where he employed trained potters from Stoke-on-Kent.

When the factory closed in 1914, the potters were sent back to England and the kilns, workshops and potters' cottages were abandoned until Marjorie Johnstone persuaded the Cullinans to make the premises available for a new studio pottery which she named The Ceramic Studio in 1925.

Happy Anniversary, Vince and Darlene!

Zanzibari Woodcrafts

Zanzibar is an island of woodcrafters. Arabian decorative doors, sleek dhows, and spice chests.

We stopped at a roadside workshop where some of the magic was done so that Vince could buy wooden frames for a selection of our photos from the Great Wildebeest Migration of 2015.

This cute shop in the center of Stone Town was selling picture frames upcycled from old Zanzibari door and window frames. He picked up a couple more frames here too.

But I was interested in buying an antique spice chest and for that we went to Abeid's Curio Shop on Cathedral Street.

This mahogany spice chest is the one!

It looks right at home at Valley Lodge!

Open sesame!

The Arusha Cultural Heritage Center

I bought so much stuff in Tanzania! So much for my new minimalist philosophy ...

I couldn't resist. Every lodge and tented camp had a gift shop. There were stands set up in all the Maasai villages. There were women's craft cooperatives in every small town. And the National Park gift shops had a large inventory too! What's a girl to do? Besides I was doing my part for the economy.

The ultimate Tanzanian shop had to be the Arusha Cultural Heritage Center just outside of Arusha on the road to Karatu. The Center was an art gallery as well as a mini-mall for all things Tanzanian.

There were Makonde carvings, Tingatinga paintings, batiks, and Maasai beaded crafts for sale - Ric bought some souvenirs. A recycled glass studio. A spice shop - Vince bought some coffee beans. A couple of great tee shirt and clothing shops - we all bought some tee shirts and I picked up a couple of kikoy scarves. There was an antique furniture shop downstairs with Zanzibari chests and doors as well as other pieces of wooden furniture. Very tempting, but I wanted to buy our Zanzibari  treasures in Zanzibar.

The best individual shop to me was the Maasai Center in its own little rondavel. Not only did they have beautifully made contemporary crafts and art, but they also stocked a large collection of pre-owned Maasai artifacts. Bingo!

I bought a pre-owned beaded belt, a crown, a cross necklace and a pair of earrings.

Vince bought a pre-owned beaded goatskin apron which we hung from a Maasai spear at home.

The Center also had a large fine jewelry counter in their main souvenir shop. Of course this being the source, they featured lots of tanzanite! I didn't really plan on buying any tanzanite but what can I say? I succumbed.

I passed on the set stones and bought a loose cabochon teardrop to bring back to Joburg and have made into a ring or a pendant at Tinsel.

The large art gallery was very interesting too. Along with the beautiful craft work and wood carvings on display there were fine paintings and bronze sculptures.

What a great spot!

Icon jewelry

tribal jewelry hanging on the headboard

It really hasn't been all that hard to keep my promise to myself to not invest in expensive jewelry while living in South Africa. For one thing, it is a much more casual lifestyle here than the one I enjoyed in my old life in the US. And secondly, the tribal and craft jewelry here is so fun and festive ... and cheap! I have hardly felt the deprivation at all.












For instance I love collecting these icon necklaces. Made from photographic images framed in hammered tin, they pack alot of pizazz for a very small price.

Made in South Africa, the photographs feature iconic images like the ubiquitous Lucky Star pilchard can labels in these earrings. (Lucky Star Pilchards are the South African artistic equivalent of Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup cans in the U.S.)  Or these colorful shweshwe kanga cloth images adorning this necklace.

Nerson Mandela photographed by Jürgen Schadeberg

My favorite pieces though feature the photographs of  Jürgen Schadeberg, a South African photographer and artist. Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin in 1931. In 1950, he moved to South Africa to rejoin his family and joined Drum magazine as official photographer and layout artist.

Schadeberg became a teacher and mentor to some of the most creative South African photographers of his time, like Bob Gosani, Ernest Cole and later Peter Magubane. As one of the few white photographers who photographed daily life among the black community, he became knowledgeable about black life and culture. As a result, he captured on film the beginnings of the freedom movement, the effects of apartheid and the vibrancy of township life.

Miriam Makema photographed by Jürgen Schadeberg

Schadeberg photographed many historic and pivotal events in the 1950s among them the Defiance Campaign of 1952, the 1956 Treason Trial, the Sophiatown removals of 1955, the Sophiatown jazz and social scene, the Sharpeville funeral of 1960 and pictures of Robben Island inmates. Some of the famous people he photographed include Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Trevor Huddleston and Govan Mbeki. He also documented the Fifties jazz legends such as Dolly Rathebe, Kippie Moeketsi, Thandi Klaasen and Miriam Makeba.

He was forced to leave South Africa in 1964 and went to London where he taught and curated photographic exhibitions, notably for the Whitechapel Art Gallery. In 1972, he returned to Africa where he accepted a position as photographer for Christian Aid in Botswana and Tanzania. In 1973 he travelled from Senegal and Mali to Kenya and Zaire to take photographs. In 1984, Schadeberg returned to South Africa. He continues to work as a photo-journalist as well as making documentaries about the black community.

The photographs are not limited to only South African icons either. This necklace - which I like to wear on Cinco de Mayo and Dia de los Muertos - features the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.







 

photo from the African Queen Facebook page

I cannot read the very tiny stamped maker's mark on the back of the necklaces so I can't give credit to the actual jewelry designer. But I bought them all at either Art Africa in Parkview or African Queen in Benmore. Oh, I have to find that Tretchikoff necklace!












PS I went back to Art Africa to buy some more necklaces for gifts and I found out the jewelry designer's name is Beverley Price. And you can special order!