ID Number

Title

Item Name

Culture

Material

Manufacturing Technique

Date Made

Place Made

Date Collected

Date Owned

Owner

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

Source

Measurements

Condition

Accession Number

Cultural Context

Tourist art

History Of Use

Traditionally decorated calabashes were used for religious purposes and later for domestic containers. In recent years, calabashes are used as decorative objects and are made for the tourist trade.

Description

A calabash with geometric relief designs around shoulder, above, and on flat base. At the widest circumference are four supernatural beasts. Between and beneath the beasts are shield-like forms and above back tails are wedge-shaped designs. Texture on carved forms is achieved by fine incised lines. The animal portrayed has the body and claws of a cat, a bird-like head, and beak, and a long tail terminating in a spade-shaped tip. Above and beneath the animal are geometric designs consisting of wedge shaped bordered by seven straight horizontal lines encircling the container. The base design consists of tapering arms radiating from a circle. The negative background of the calabash is yellow-red and the positive areas are black. The black forms are outlined in deeper relief than the surrounding background.