Snake Singer
Lot Estimate
ZAR 12 000 - 18 000
About this Item
Owen Ndou
South African 1964-
Snake Singer
Date unrecorded, collected between 1990 and 1993
wood and paint
120 by 49 by 40 cm
Notes
Images of snakes are a recurrent theme in Ndou's sculptures. Snakes, some benevolent, others dangerous, also feature in Venda cosmology. (Great healers and diviners, for example, were associated with pythons.) In this work, a serpent wraps around a large trunk with a sign that states, 'Do Not Burn the Bush'. This is perhaps a snake in its guardian role delivering an ecological warning message. Ndou's sculptures are held in prestigious collections in South Africa including Wits Art Museum, Johannesburg Art Gallery and Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg.
See Lot 15 for artist biography.
Provenance
Donated by Trent Read
More from WAM Endowment Auction
Couple (Woman In Green Dress With Red Handbag And Seated Man)
ZAR 4 000 - 6 000
Owen Ndou
Tortoise Soccer Referee
ZAR 15 000 - 20 000
Woman from Giyani
ZAR 6 000 - 8 000
Tall Thin Man
ZAR 7 000 - 10 000
Dog and Rider
ZAR 10 000 - 15 000
Owen Ndou
Golf Hare
ZAR 6 000 - 9 000