Samuel Wanjau (Kenyan, 1936-2013)
Dancing Warrior, circa 1978
unsigned
tropical hardwood
260 x 31cm
Ksh 2,200,000–2,500,000
US$ 25,000–28,500
Bought in
Provenance: Private Collection
Wanjau was undoubtedly one of Kenya’s most revered an influential sculptors. Born in Nyeri on the family farm, he left school to join a carvers’ cooperative in Mombasa and later in Nairobi and when independence came he started producing curios for the tourist market. On meeting Elimo Njau of Paa Ya Paa (Arts Centre) he began to explore new styles and techniques and discovered a highly personal style that conveyed powerful emotion in the everyday figures and animals he carved.
Wanjau exhibited widely in East Africa and internationally including Sweden, Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Italy. His influence on the second generation of sculptors which include both his sons, Jackson and Anthony, has been profound. His work and career is emblematic of a time when artists were breaking away from the mass production of co-operatives and finding distinctive individual vo