Repairing a Badly Damaged Ebony Sculpture

In January 2009, I was offered a commission to repair an ebony sculpture by the late Zambian sculptor, Friday Tembo. The piece had been accidentally knocked from a mantelpiece and had broken into several fragments. The sculptor was a personal friend of the owners. Friday Tembo was one of Zambia's top sculptors, who exhibited internationally and had given them the carving himself and it therefore had great sentimental value to them, particularly as he had since passed away. For more information about the work of Friday Tembo, please click here or here.

It was a real privilege to be given the opportunity to repair and restore this beautiful and interesting work. It represents a shaman in the process of transforming between a man and a fish form.

This is how the sculpture was given to me. The small bag holds fragments which had been knocked from the fins.
Above and to the right are images taken to show some of the damage. Below are shown these same breaks after being repaired, retextured and then finished using the original methods. The break shown on the right below had to be reinforced with an internal metal rod to strengthen it.
The repaired sculpture, waiting in a friend's workshop for collection by the client. The tools give an idea of the size of the piece.