Description
This charismatic vessel is hand constructed from terra-cotta clay by the Azande ethnic group from Congo. It is a male figurine marked by rounded lips, a protruding nose, closed eyes, beveled headdress, and two, stick-thin arms wrapped comfortably around his fat, playful belly. On the front lie (in the necktie area) a series of raised bumps that function both aesthetically and as a grip mechanism when held. The Azande are an agrarian people with long held traditions in ceramics and pottery dating back to the Iron Age. This terra-cotta, anthropomorphic vessel is employed for consumption of local wine and herbal remedies in domestic contexts and during various cultural enactments. REFERENCES: Schildkrout, E. 1999. “Gender and Sexuality in Mangbetu Art.” In Unpacking Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds. Ed. by Ruth B. Phillips and Christopher B. Steiner. Berkeley: University of California Press.
