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.
- This vessel resembles a gourd. The small, clay pellets placed around the neck have their counterpart in imported brass tacks, which were widely used on other objects including pottery, gourds and figures. The incised design on the shoulder is rendered and placed for maximum visibility. The parallel incisions around the rim simulate rope or fiber attached as a means of carrying the vessel.
- Description
- Vessel in the shape of a bottle gourd. Grooved parallel lines go around the rim, applied bosses go around the bottom of the neck and a zigzag motif interspersed with a chevron pattern goes around the shoulder.
- Provenance
- Walshaert collection, Antwerp, before 1930
- 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 Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks.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
- Early 20th century
- Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program
- Medium
- Ceramic
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 19.2 x 12.8 x 12.6 cm (7 9/16 x 5 1/16 x 4 15/16 in.)
- Type
- Ceramics
