Water Container (Jidaga)

Arts of Africa

Early/mid–20th century

Bamana
Mali
Northern Africa and the Sahel

Bamana tradition dictates that only the wives and daughters of blacksmiths have the right to make pots. Water containers, which are prominently displayed in a family compound, are among the most decorative and individualized of their wares. The potter begins by forming the vessel’s base over a convex mold. Coils are then added to complete the walls and lip. Raised embellishment, like that seen on this water container, is no longer common. Here a series of abstract lizards stretches across the vessel’s entire expanse.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Bamana
Title: Water Container (Jidaga)
Place: Mali (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.: Made 1900–1950
Medium: Blackened terracotta
Dimensions: 48.9 × 42.6 cm (19 1/4 × 16 3/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Keith Achepohl
Reference Number: 2005.225

Kathleen Bickford Berzock, For Hearth and Altar: African Ceramics from the Keith Achepohl Collection (The Art Institute and Yale University Press, 2005), pp. 58-59.

Art Institute of Chicago, For Hearth and Altar: African Ceramics from the Keith Achepohl Collection, Dec. 3, 2005–Feb. 20, 2006, cat. 24.

Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago, Ill., by 2001; sold to Keith Achepohl, Iowa City, Iowa, by 2005; given to the Art Institute, 2005.

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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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.

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