The Zimbabwe bird has become an important cultural symbol in Zimbabwe, occupying a place on the country’s flag, coins, and the logo of several organisations, as well as being the national emblem. Its design is based on eight soapstone sculptures of birds which were discovered in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a city which was inhabited from around the 9th century to the 15th century CE. The stylised bird figures are thought to represent the bateleur eagle or the African fish eagle, and they were placed on columns almost a metre high. The birds were removed from the site of Great Zimbabwe in the late 19th century after a European hunter visited and decided to dig one out and take it with him, despite the protestations of the local people. They were not returned until the 1980s, and one still remains in the house of Cecil Rhodes in South Africa. Because of their connection with the history and heritage of Zimbabwe, and the fact that they spent a long time away from their country of origin, the sculptures have become very symbolically important.

This sculpture, as the inscription on the back of the base tells us, was carved by Thomas Mukuna in AD 1973. It bears a close resemblance to the emblematic form of the Zimbabwe bird, with a simplified head, legs, and wings, and a pedestal underneath with dot and zigzag patterns. The solidity of the granite used and the proud expression of the bird, with its head held high, serves as a reminder of the strength of the country and its heritage. During the AD 1970s, Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was then known) had declared independence from the United Kingdom, which had held control in that region for around eighty years, but this independence was not internationally recognised, and the country was experiencing internal conflict. Therefore, this artwork constitutes an important part of Zimbabwean history, both in its subject and within the historical context in which it was created.