Height: 15.000 cm (largest)
Diameter: 33.000 cm

AOA 1948.Af6.2-3, 5

Africa, Oceania, Americas

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Sudan Past and Present: From the Islamic Period to the Modern World

Clay and dung vessels

Bowls of animal dung, clay and water are made by unmarried girls and form an important part of their trousseaux (the belongings collected by brides in preparation for marriage). Shaped by hand, the pots are painted with a layer of gum mixed with a red earth slip and left to dry. Soot, obtained from the outside of a cooking pot, is later painted onto the outside of the pot and most of the inside leaving a thin band of red slip for a white creeper-like design to be applied.

The designs on pots are similar to those found on Nuba house walls and on elements of male body decoration. Feathers and lengths of grass are used to produce chevrons, arrows and other shapes. Such vessels are very fragile as they are not fired and are not as strong as calabashes (gourds used for cooking) whose form they imitate. They are not used in food preparation but for storing dried foodstuffs. At wedding ceremonies they are filled with perfumes, flour and dried vegetables.

The many different groups that make up the Nuba peoples live among the hills of the Kordofan region in the central part of Sudan. They have varied cultures and speak indigenous languages. They are farmers, cultivating a variety of crops including corn, groundnuts and beans and keeping livestock.