Mortar

Item number Edz1040 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Large, deep mortar with glazed outer surface and unglazed interior. Exterior is decorated with small area of black marks on mustard ground; interior has crosshatched diagonal lines incised into surface.

History Of Use

Such mortars were used at the time this one was collected to grind peanuts and sesame seeds to fill sweet steamed cakes called (in Cantonese) chah gwo. Ground peanuts and sesame seeds were also used to make sweet soups called wuh. They could also be used to grind small quantities of pre-soaked rice into flour, although in Tsuen Wan larger quantities were carried by women to a mill to be ground. In the past, large quantities had been ground by hand in a mill at home. The mortar should have with it a pestle, called gwan.

Narrative

Purchased from a small shop in a shed on Chung On St., Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. The shop sold hardware, household goods, bamboo products, etc. Used by local Hakka people in Tsuen Wan, and probably also by members of other Chinese sub-ethnic groups.