Minneapolis Institute of Art

Beer pot

Zulu artist

Date

mid 20th century

Medium

Clay

Culture

Zulu

Department

Arts of Global Africa

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Among the Zulu peoples, home-brewed sorghum beer is the preferred food of the ancestors. Beer drinking is an indispensable part of communal celebrations of life’s milestones, including birth, marriage, and death. Pots for serving and drinking beer are embellished with textured patterns, some of which are figurative, and then blackened in a smoky reduction firing of grass or dung. Blackening attracts the ancestors, whose presence and blessing are desired. South Africa, Africa

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