COMPLETELY AFRICAN   

ABOUT OUR PRODUCTS - HISTORY AND INFORMATION
Suite 141, Postnet X48, Marshalltown, 2107
gillianM@ibi.co.za
ph +27 (0) 82 337 3185
fax +27 (11) 838 2220

JIMMY SCHWARTZ ARTWORK

German immigrant, Jimmy Schwartz, has carved out a career for himself creating African tribal figurines, English knights in armour, Japanese samurai warriors and any other type of figurine a customer may be interested in.  One-off creations are Jimmy’s speciality.

To make items more affordable, he employed a group of unskilled black women and two young male apprentices and trained them to turn out a product of such quality that still has to find it’s equal on the local market. 

Jimmy designs every new tribal figurine himself and produces the first one before he gets his team to take over.  His vigilance on quality control never lets up because he believes only a job well done, is worth doing. 

All the standard figurines are hand carved in imbuia, hand painted, silver decorated and stand 20cm high.  Any type of figurine can be produced as long as a good possibility of sales exists.

 Imbuia, which comes from Parana and Catarina, districts of Brazil, is the material used for all standard figurines created in Jimmy’s workshop.  He fell in love with imbuia as he was so impressed with the multitude of colours and different grain patterns present in this strong and durable wood.  He created his first carvings from this wood and discovered that it accepts fine detail, finishes very smoothly and does not crack after completion.

 The majority of these figurines find their way to private collections all over the world.  

                                                                 

Lesley Grob Paintings and Graphite Drawings

Born in the UK Lesley Grob moved to South Africa in 1996.

Lesley started her art career in 1999 and has found her medium in graphite drawings of local African people.
She is also experimenting with the interaction of graphite drawings along with authentic African beads to give colour and depth to her drawings.

Lesley now lives in Johannesburg with her husband and 2 young children.

                                                                                 

TIGERS EYE

Tigers Eye is a rare form of Black Quartz which has yellow and golden brown stripes.  It is a popular gemstone that is used in ornamentation.
It gets its distinctive yellow and golden brown stripes from inclusions of iron oxide and it’s characteristic fibrous appearance through substituting itself in place of Crocidolite.  The coloring in Tigers Eye derives from addition of Iron from the Crocidolite to the oxygen that is already present in the basic quartz structure of Tigers Eye .
In most aspects the chemistry of Tigers Eye is the same as that of Quartz.
Although some quantities have been found in Australia, Burma, India and Brazil, South Africa is responsible for practically all the Tigers Eye production in the world.  The best examples have been found at Griqualand West, South Africa.

Scientific Fact File
Group                              Silicates
Crystal System                Trigonal
Chemical Formula            SiO2
Hardness                          7
Density                            2.65
Cleavage                          Absent
Fracture                          Splintery or Conchoidal
Colour                              Yellow / Golden Brown
Streak                              White 

Metaphysical Properties
Number                           3
Astrological Sign           Aquarius
Element                          Air
Chakra                            Crown
Animal Spirit                 Pegasus
Metaphysical                  Protects Aura, Balances Energies, Protects against all strong emotions such as hate, envy, fear, anger.   
                                       Protects against Psychic attacks.  Helps business prosper.
Medical                           Blood purifier, Insomnia, Headaches, Mental Disorders, Arthritis, Hearing Disorders, Nervous, Heart,
                                       Stomach, Skeletal and healing disorders.

Suite 141, PostNet X48, Marshalltown, 2107   gillianM@ibi.co.za   ph+27 (0) 82 337 3185   fax+27 (11) 838 2220