Artwork Page for Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)

Details / Information for Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)

Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)

1900s
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Download, Print and Share

Did You Know?

Serving and sharing palm wine in decorated vessels like this is part of a larger food culture in the Cameroon Grassfields kingdoms that centers on ritual, hospitality, status, and diplomacy.

Description

Made by a female potter nearly a century ago, this palm wine vessel represents past and present cultural practices in the Cameroon Grassfields (northwest and western Cameroon). Women in the pottery-producing centers of Babessi and Bamessing hand-built these vessels. Their process alludes to pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Passing knowledge from mother to daughter since at least the 1700s, making pottery is a female economic, social, and artistic contribution. Yet many motifs refer to royal or male power, such as the lizards on this vessel. Elegant palm wine vessels like this were appropriate for ritual and hospitality in Cameroon Grassfields royal courts.
Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)

Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)

1900s

Probably Babessi or Bamessing, Cameroon, Cameroon Grassfields-style pottery, unknown female ceramicist

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, a detail image, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.