Collection record · Objects & craft
Pot
The collection record classifies this work as vessels. It is dated 1900s. Recorded culture or place: Southern Africa, South Africa, Zulu-style potter.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Pot
- Date
- 1900s
- Culture / origin
- Southern Africa, South Africa, Zulu-style potter
- Materials and technique
- Terracotta
- Dimensions
- Overall: 26.7 x 25.4 cm (10 1/2 x 10 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1999.192
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
Within the Zulu culture (the Northern Nguni tribe), the making of beer pots is the traditional function of women. A potter will travel far searching in riverbeds or for anthills that can supply the correct clay for the vessels. Formed using the coil technique and smoothed using flattened stones, the pots are fired in a dug-out earthen "kiln," and covered with palm leaves, whose oil results in the blackened, shiny texture of the vessels. Years of use deepen this texture to a rich woody patina.
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Bernie and Sue Pucker in memory of Robert P. Bergman · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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