The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 22, 2025
Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)
1900s
Overall: 45 cm (17 11/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1998.94
Location: Not on view
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.- ?-1998(Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago, IL, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)1998-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- From the Earth through Her Hands: African Ceramics. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 21, 2024-September 21, 2025).
- {{cite web|title=Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)|url=false|author=|year=1900s|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1998.94