'Los Sonoros'
"A 1960s traditional Cuban band, carved out of a single block of Cuban mahogany. I first saw it many years ago behind the bar of Countess Von Rosen’s Mallorcan mansion where it had occupied pride of place for the last 50 years!
The Countess explained that she and her husband had purchased it directly from the sculptor in the 1960s in Havana from his tiny workshop on the balcony of his Government owned apartment. It apparently left Cuba in a diplomatic bag and is unsigned because commerce was banned under Communist rules, and the artist was not allowed to sell his work.
He was apparently regarded as a master carver by the island community. I would wholeheartedly agree!"
- Paul Atkinson
