Cleveland Museum of Art

Vessel

Date

early 1900s

Medium

terracotta

Culture

Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mangbetu, early 20th century

Department

African Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Women were and still are responsible for the making of terracotta pots among the Mangbetu. It seems, however, that men added the figurative elements that embellish examples like the one shown here. The depicted head with its elongated skull and halolike coiffure imitates the cranial deformation and hairstyle fashionable among female Mangbetu royalty at the beginning of the 20th century. Typically used for wine, many vessels were also explicitly made for sale to foreigners.

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