Exhibition Report
The piece of work I have chosen to analyze is an ancient West African water vessel, which is part of the University of Iowa Museum of Art’s collection currently featured in the Richey Ballroom. Because the piece is ancient and pottery has, until very recently, been held in very low esteem in comparison to other mediums the artist is unknown. The piece is approximately a foot in height; the diameter of the body of the piece is six inches tapering off to about an inch at the neck before flaring out at the lip. This vessel like many other vessels created in West Africa is earthenware.
The piece itself though simplistic is very interesting to look at and demonstrates a multitude of ceramic elements and principles. The form …show more content…
The materials required to make pottery costs little, but the utility of such pieces in a village are enormous. In many African societies pottery is considered women’s work. It can be assumed that this is because it is such a stationary task, in order to construct and fire a pot it takes a great deal of time. Women generally spent more time in the village and thus it is only logical that pottery would become a woman’s task. The process these women use has not been altered in thousands of years; comparing two- thousand year old pottery to present day West African pottery has proved this. The women mine clay locally and prepare it for use. The preparation includes the adding of water and temper (straw or animal excrement) into the ball clay in order to increase its plasticity and reduce shirking during the drying process. The bowls are built not on a wheel, but through handbuilding: a combination of coiling, beating, and modeling. No glaze is ever added to these pots, a change in surface and texture may be caused by other means, such as the introduction of micah to the surface. After the pieces are dried, sometimes with the assistance of fire, they are loaded lip down into clamps, open circular containers that are the predecessors of kilns. The pots are then covered with grass, leaves, and other organic material and fire for two to four hours. The …show more content…
The pots of West Africa were built for use in West Africa, the neck of the piece is very narrow not just because it creates a focal point, but also because it decreases evaporation of water out of the body. The necks could also be laces to together and carried on poles between two individual during long trips with out spilling their contents. The long line neck though visually gratifying has a utilitarian purpose. The large body allows for a lot of water to be carried, which is important during long journeys in the West African heat. Some believe that the water vessels have a greater meaning then pure utility, that their makers, though usually unrecognized, signed them in their own way. When turned upside down the form resembles a uterus and a virginal canal. Though the women were unable to sign their work they still put a part of themselves in the pieces, reliving their very gender through form. Whether this was in intentional or not is unknown, but those doses not make it any less visible or important. Personally, I really liked the piece; I was attracted to its hidden meaning and simplicity. I believe a lot can be found in simple form, decorating, or