Palm Wine Vessel (kuh mendu)
Unknown Artist
1900s
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
h. 45 cm
Classification
Vessels
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1998.94
About this artwork
Made by a female potter nearly a century ago, this palm wine vessel represents past and present cultural practices in the Cameroon Grassfields (northwest and western Cameroon). Women in the pottery-producing centers of Babessi and Bamessing hand-built these vessels. Their process alludes to pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Passing knowledge from mother to daughter since at least the 1700s, making pottery is a female economic, social, and artistic contribution. Yet many motifs refer to royal or ma...