LONDON.- Shaka Zulu, the upmarket restaurant that opened at Camden Market, London in 2010, has closed and all its elaborate decorations are coming up for sale at
Summers Place Auctions on Tuesday, 28th March 2023 and in the sealed bid auction on Wednesday, 29th March 2023 with estimates ranging from £100 up to £10,000. The restaurant was themed around the famous Zulu king Shaka and had been designed and furnished for £5.5 million.
The interior décor showcased 19th century Zulu culture and the Zulu art which adorned the walls were made possible with the help of South African museums, allowing copies of their artefacts to be made specifically for the 2,400 square metre restaurant. The hand-made furniture, the wooden murals and indeed the bronzes, all made in South Africa & Asia had to be transported to the UK in 40 lorries. The smaller items like the chairs and tables were carried into the building by hand. The large statues, including the bronze Lion which weighs 1000 kg and sat at the bottom of the escalator, were lifted through the then non-existent roof by crane. The 6,000 ceiling tiles were again, all hand made and it took 2 years for the carvings to be made.
Enormous intricately hand-carved wooden panels with majestic scenes from Africa, some 20m high and 10m wide, will be auctioned off as well as impressive monumental statues of Zulu heroes, like a 15m bronze statue of the feared ruler himself. The designers consulted both museums in South Africa and the British Museum and the developers held extensive consultation with members of the Zulu nation in South Africa, including the then reigning Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini (1948-2021).
Shaka Zulu (1787-1828), was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828 and one of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu. He ordered wide-reaching reforms that reorganised the military into a leading force and by 1828 he ruled 250,000 people and could put 40,000 warriors into the field.
Shaka
The Royal warrior, Shaka, was born around 1787 near KwaDukuza in KwaZulu-Natal. Both his parents were of noble birth, but as they were unmarried, he and his mother settled with one of her aunt's among the Mthetwa tribe, whose leader Chief Dingiswayo saw Shaka's leadership potential and took him as his protégée, giving him the opportunity to rise through the ranks. Shaka was a ruthless commander, but his strict discipline and sharp military mind were an advantage for the army.
When his father died, Dingiswayo supported the young man in a bid to claim control of his people. This Shaka did, and immediately began to assimilate neighbouring clans into his domain, although he remained loyal to Dingiswayo. When he died in 1818, Shaka assumed the late Dingiswayo’s position and immediately began to expand the boundaries of his kingdom and finally conquering his only real rival Zwide of the Ndwandwe tribe, whom he finally conquered in 1826.
Shaka introduced a number of new military and social concepts during his reign. These included the short stabbing spear that was born of the long-handled assegai used for throwing and he also perfected the crescent-shaped military formation, the main part of which would fight the enemy while those on the outer wings moved to surround the foe. The Zulu army under Shaka fought many bloodthirsty wars and left thousands of people as refugees. He was, however, on good terms with the occupying British colonial forces, traded with them, and allowed them to build a settlement at Port Natal, now the provincial capital Durban. During his rule there was harmony between the Zulus and the settlers.
When his mother Nandi died in 1827, Shaka went berserk, putting large numbers of people to death simply because they did not appear to be suitably grief-stricken. His bodyguard and half-brothers eventually killed him in 1828.
