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Water Container

A work made of terracotta.

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  • A work made of terracotta.

Date:

Early/mid–20th century

Artist:

Nupe
Nigeria
Coastal West Africa

About this artwork

Nupe potters use a convex-mold technique to form the base of round-bottomed vessels. In this method they hammer a flat disk of clay over the top of the mold, usually a fired pot, until achieving the desired shape. They then finish the piece with coils if so desired.
On this pot, the rounding of the lower half slows to a gradual inward slope at midpoint and terminates in a rimless opening. The incised embellishment is relatively thick and deep and was applied with a comb. On the upper half of the vessel, two wide bands of pattern are separated by raised lines. The lower of these bands is filled in with zigzag lines, while the upper one has a series of arches that are further punctuated by raised dots of clay. A similarly embellished vessel is said to have come from the region of Muregi.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Africa

Culture

Nupe

Title

Water Container

Place

Nigeria (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1900–1975

Medium

Terracotta

Dimensions

30.5 × 35.6 cm (12 × 14 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Keith Achepohl

Reference Number

2012.500

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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