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This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Sitting figure representing a person stirring a pot (réwâh or ézé) over a hearth (mizâh or adokpô). Figure is sitting on a cylindrical object tapering upward. The knees are bent so that the legs are angled frontward and outward with the pot and the fire in between the feet. The arms are extended outward as both hands hold a spatula (n’nawou or akoumé-dati) to stir the pot. Clothes are of a lighter wood colour than the body. On a wood base.

History Of Use

Thorn carvings are miniatures depicting a variety of scenes from Nigerian life. The carvings first began to be made circa 1930. The thorns vary in size; they can be as large as 12.7 cm long and 9.6 cm wide. The thorn wood is comparatively soft and easy to carve; they are traditionally carved by men. The scene depicted in this carving represents a woman preparing a traditional dough known as akoumé (or banku or tô). The hearth or furnace is usually built from three granite stones in order to support the pot; the triangular shape symbolizes the unity and stability of family. Typically, the pot would be made of terracotta and would be handled by someone highly skilled, in order to avoid breaking it; today they are also made out of aluminum.

Cultural Context

craft; tourist art

Specific Techniques

The light yellow-brown thorn and the dark brown thorn come from the ata tree; the light red-brown thorn comes from egun trees. The parts are glued together with viscous paste made that was made from rice cooked with water.

Narrative

Collected by Dougal MacGregor while he was a teacher at the University of Accra, 1970.

Item History

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