Ink Pot
Culture: Hausa
Country: Nigeria
Fired Clay
Art objects are interwoven with daily life in Africa in ways quite different
from much Western art. Frequently, the forms and surfaces of every day utilitarian
household and personal objects, such as vessels and stools, are embellished
with an array of striking designs. African people employ a large variety
of materials to make their utensils. Gourds and other raw materials such
as grasses, reeds, sedges, and creepers are most often used for vessels.
Gourd and basketry containers generally are more prevalent than ceramic
ones, which are heavier and more fragile. The gourd has four main shapes;
globular, flattened, bottle-shaped, and tubular. The variety of shaped makes
them very practical for utility. The hollowed-out shell of the symmetrical
gourd has a critical function for the African people. Since it is inexpensive,
durable, light and portable, it is suitable for transporting, storing and
serving food stuffs and liquids. Other uses include protective bonnets for
children, fishing floats, seed-drills, henna baths and smoking pipes, etc.
Gourds and calabashes are embellished using three types of decorative techniques:
pyro-engraving, (poker work), pressure-engraving, (including scraping),
and carving. IN pryo-hyphen engraving, a heated leaf shaped blade is used
to draw a design in the gourd while it is rotated. Different color and texture
effects are achieved by a 'rocking' technique or by 'scorching'. In the
former, a partially cooled blade produces a bronze or reddish brown tone.
In the latter, a flat blade produces a contrasting matte finish. Pressure-engraving
existed before the introduction of pyro-engraving. Carvers draw on the work
surface by dragging a metal point, like a dagger, across the surface toward
the carver's body. This process is very painstaking. Carving is a technique
used to create a relief pattern by the Hausa people of Nigeria. In this
technique the background of the design is cut or scraped away, leaving the
unmarked shell. Therefore, it is possible to produce shadows which create
a three-dimensional effect by using an angled blade. Fibrous materials are
used to make baskets and mats. Baskets are used to store a variety of things
such as food, liquids (milk and water), spoons and trinkets, as well as
for serving food. Bottle-shaped baskets are for sifting cassava flour. Basketry
materials such as cotton, raffia, split palm leaves and bark, are soaked
in water to make them soft. Raw ends and the material are cut off using
a small knife. An iron awl is handled to pierce holes in coil-sewn baskets
to allow threading of the sewn element. A great variety of decoration can
be seen on African baskets. Some glossy materials such as split reeds may
be applied to the outer surface to contrast with the matte interior. Dyes
are obtained in a variety of ways. For instance, black can be made from
swamp mud; red, yellow, or brown from vegetable pigments, and white from
riverain clay. Ceramic vessels are made for storing or transporting such
items as water, beer, palm wine, oil, butter, medicines, ink, or dye solutions.
Pots for storing and cooling water are large, with little or no neck, for
easy access to allow the maximum surface area for evaporation.