Mandela Natural Travertine Crescent Accent Table

Details

Introducing our Mandela Natural Travertine Crescent Accent Table featuring a crescent moon design that seamlessly flows with artisan-made circular lines. Crafted with high quality and durable 100% natural travertine, this piece features stone sourced from South Africa and other countries around the world. More than a side table, the Mandela Natural Travertine Crescent Accent Table is an incredible work of art for your interior -- a handcrafted stone sculpture that is sure to make a statement in your home for generations. Explore the complete Mandela Collection to finish the look.

Editors' Note

This collection is named in honor of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, former President of South Africa and longtime figure in his nation’s struggle for equality. Born in Mvezo, South Africa in July of 1918, Mandela was the son of Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Henry Mgadla Mandela, leader of the Madiba clan as well as a grandson of King Ngubengcuka of the abaThembu and chief councilor to the paramount chief of the Thembu. Mandela would attend the University of Ft. Hare in the Eastern Cape — the only university in the nation to admit Black (African, Indian, or Coloured) South Africans. Leaving school before graduation due to tensions, Mandela would flee to Johannesburg where he met Walter Sisulu, who introduced him to the African National Congress (ANC), which Mandela joined in 1944. By 1948 the South African National Party introduced its platform of total segregation called Apartheid (“apartness”). In 1952, Mandela was elected deputy national president of the ANC as well as president of the Transvaal chapter. By 1954, the ANC had as many as 100,000 members, attributed to Mandela as a trusted figure in the movement. Yet as the threat of a government ban loomed, the ANC went further underground with Mandela arrested and imprisoned more than once. One arrest, under the Suppression of Communism Act, came in December of 1952, the same year that he opened the nation’s first African-run law practice with Oliver Tambo. He was arrested again in 1956 with 155 other members of the Congress Alliance leadership — men and women of all colors — and tried for treason over a course of nearly five years. 1960 marked a major turning point, both for Mandela and the nation as a peaceful protest planned on March 21st by the Pan Africanist Conference (PAC) became remembered as the Sharpeville Massacre. Government troops opened fire on the protesters, killing 69 people and wounding upwards of 200, with many being shot in the back as they fled. Mandela was one of several thousand political activists detained in the immediate aftermath, and by April, both the ANC and PAC were banned. For the next several years, Mandela traveled clandestinely throughout the continent, meeting with leaders and other political activists in nations such as Morocco, Ethiopia, and Algeria. The discovery of personal materials documenting Mandela’s travels, training and strategies for guerrilla war led to the 1963 Rivonia Trial, at which Mandela, already imprisoned, was tried alongside several comrades and ultimately sentenced, in 1964, to life in prison. Through 27 years of imprisonment, Mandela continued to grow in international prestige as a symbol of growing anti-Apartheid sentiment. In 1989, he would meet the nation’s incoming president, F.W. De Klerk, who, in his inaugural address to the nation’s parliament in 1990, would announce the lift of the ban on the ANC and PAC, and the release of Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners. Greeting the world with a spirit of “peace, democracy and freedom for all,” Mandela resumed his work with the ANC. In 1991 he succeeded in bringing together the IFP, ANC and PAC to jointly oppose Apartheid. His meeting with American president George H.W. Bush in November of that year further cemented his position as an international figure and leader of his nation. In May of 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa, marking the end of nearly 50 years of Apartheid. Dedicating his time in office to the causes of rebuilding and reconciliation, Mandela retired from political life after his first term ended in 1999. On December 5, 2013, after a series of mounting health issue, it was confirmed that he had passed away, leaving a legacy of unvarying strength in the face of oppression that continues to inspire today.