Vessel

Item number 3420/7 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

Ceramic vessel with a black and dark red burnished surface. The body is divided into three sections by two raised horizontal lines. The bottom third is not polished and is heavily marked with repeating angled incised lines. Large lizard and beetle figures alternate around the centre section. The mouth is circular, with raised and flared lip, and the base rounded.

History Of Use

Bamana water container (jidaga); can also be used to store millet beer, or spiritual medicine for the household.. They are often meant for prominent display in domestic compounds, so that visitors may be offered a drink upon arrival; water can also be used for cleaning. They are also used as decoration in many households. Female potters married to blacksmiths, known as nummumusow (blacksmith women), make such vessels. To do so, they dig out clay from the ground and build the jidaga without a wheel. After they have dried, vessels are fired in big communal firings.