Object Details
- Label Text
- African potters--primarily women--handbuild a variety of vessels that they embellish with beautiful colors, designs and motifs before firing them at low temperatures. Containers made for daily use hold water or serve as cooking utensils. They also make vessels to be used in special ceremonies or that become part of an assemblage of objects placed in a shrine.
- The entire surface of this vessel is covered with a red slip. The serrated edge is unusual. An old label inside reads "Banana," formerly a major port of call for European colonial trading ships on the Atlantic Coast in the Lower Congo region and an important outlet for locally produced items.
- Description
- Red colored bowl with a serrated edge.
- Provenance
- Mission of Kisantu collection, Congo Free State (Democratic Republic of the Congo), before 1904
- Exhibition History
- Purpose and Perfection: Pottery as a Woman's Art in Central Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 15, 1992-June 15, 1997
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Kongo artist
- Date
- Late 19th-early 20th century
- Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program
- Medium
- Ceramic, slip
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 5.5 x 19.1 x 19 cm (2 3/16 x 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Ceramics
