Qiniso was born in December 1990 at Mpophomeni near Howick, and joined Ardmore in November 2010 as a sculptor.

He says: “I like playing with clay, making different designs, especially trays, platters and square bowls. I like to create any animals that fit with the particular design or shape I have made.”

Fee Halsted says: “Qiniso has great flair at hand-building and is truly inventive. His hexagonal dishes and bowls are his personal signature as they are so distinctive.”

At the ‘Just So Crocodiles and Other Curiosities Exhibition’ in 2013 at Hyde Park, organised by Charles Greig Jewellers, he made his mark with an exquisite Leopard Tureen that was the main attraction at the show. It reminded one of a baroque clock, mantle-piece in shape.

He also excelled himself with an incredible Warthog Tureen that found a home with a big collector in the United States after it was exhibited at ‘The Great Herds of Africa’ exhibition in Cape Town in 2014.

Quiniso took a break from Ardmore in the winter of 2014 to work as a TLB and taxi driver operator but returned in the November of the same year.

His large elephant platter, painted by Nondumiso Mfuphi, was selected for the Korean Biennale at the end of 2014.