Description
This quaint vessel is designed and hand built of terra-cotta clay by the Ungur ethnic group residing in the Republic of Nigeria. It is a whimsical, male figure with an implied smile and positive countenance. The stick-thin arms drape comfortably over the figure’s playfully fat belly. “As ancestors, such vessels help structure and legitimize social relationship among Ungur People. The reality of their ancestors is inseparable from the reality of ceramic symbols which dwell in these pots…” (Berns 1990). These vessels are always constructed by Yungur women. REFERENCES: Burns, Marla C. 1990. Pots As People: Ungur Ancestral Portraits. Los Angeles: African Arts. Vol. 23, Iss. 3.
