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ZoZo Elephant No.4
7cm
205-104 ...... 1100 USD
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An expressive new collection of silver elephants, inspired by a little orphan who got stuck in the mud.....
The ZoZo sculptures range from baby to big daddy, and have also been incorporated into a small selection of youthful jewellery.
Zozo
Before he had a name, the real Zozo was a six year old orphaned elephant who lived on the next door farm to ours. One hot and dusty day, he went down to the vlei, a moist area that is often found in open grasslands in Mashonaland, home to the smiling cane rats and whistling reedbuck. There he rolled and frolicked in a cool and sweet smelling mud bath. But his weight was too much and his legs soon sunk into the sticky clay.
For hours he squealed for help until we arrived in the Toyota Mavmobile.
After securing a sling around the terrified young elephant, we hauled him out of the mud to a piece of high ground. Weak and shaken, his little trunk hanging limply, he stood and welcomed the hot sun as he dried out. Slowly his tail curled round and he lifted his back leg to scratch a big patch of mud off his bum. It was this unforgettable moment that led me to sculpt this story.
For the last fifteen years there’s been that little rotund elephant standing all alone on my desk in Africa. He stands on three feet and lifts his fourth to scratch his wrinkly round behind.
Somewhere in the past a little girl walked up to my desk, stared into the eye of the lonely elephant and called him Zozo. Since then, with his smooth toes and wrinkly skin, Zozo has been touched by a thousand hands and has brought smiles to as many faces.
There is now a family of ZoZo elephants, Mums, Dads, brothers and sisters and although they are sometimes found in small groups, they are in fact a big cuddly, interlocking and supportive family.
The ZoZos are cast in sterling silver in my African studio in one of the most complex and exacting methods I use. All of them have their family number under their chin.
Patrick Mavros
December 2005
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