CEREMONIAL PALM-WINE VESSEL
[1,2,12]: CEREMONIAL PALM-WINE VESSEL
[3,9]: Clay vessels for carrying water, palm-wine in this case, religious rites, and making music were primarily designed and produced by women.
[4,5]: Ceremonial wine vessels had recognizable formal language - multiple spout design and juxtapositions of cylindrical and bulbous forms in multiples. These are examples of other Igbo wine vessels showcasing that familiar design language; we will explore these further in future posts…
[6]: Vessels from Igbo-American craftsperson Ebere Agwuncha’s 2022 “owoko” interactive installation honor the ceramic traditions of Igbo women and carry a lovely continuation of form and visual language noticed on this palm wine vessel
[7,8]: Palm wine tapper in the trees. Men transerring palm wine into clay vessels of simpler forms. Palm wine is an essential part of most Igbo communal rites
[10,11]: Close-up of a different Igbo vessel with the same distinct, lyrical composition of linear carvings
[13]: This wine vessel was excavated in Udi in Eastern Nigeria (Enugu). A full report can be found in Nigeria Magazine issue 93 published in June 1967. Viewed at the Nigerian National Archives in Enugu.
From: Igbo culture, Nigeria 🇳🇬Source [1,2,4,12-13]: “Archaeology in Eastern Nigeria,” by Donald D. Hartle in Nigeria Magazine Issue 93 (June 1967), pg 138
Source [3]: @ukpuru
“An Igbo lady from Nofia making a pot shot by Northcote Thomas, before 1911”
Source [5,7]: Frank Starkweather’s “Traditional Igbo Art Circa 1965: A Comprehensive Collection”
Source [6]: @ebere_iwantcha (eagwuncha.com)
Source [8,9]: Simon Ottenberg Photographs @smithsonian_africanart
“Igbo women at pot firing field, Mgbom village” & “Men transferring palm wine into pots” in Afikpo Village-Group, Nigeria
Source [10,11]: “Nigerian Pottery” by Sylvia Leith-Ross, 1970
@potterybyosa
Observations:
women in design and design production, strong continuation of a design language, formal contrast, ergonomics, social significance and philosophy driving object’s form, formal harmony, continuity of an intentional typology (multi-spout for ceremonial use)