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Zulu beer pot, South Africa
8.5" tall x 10.5" wide
clay, pigment
mid 20th Century, definite signs of age and use
From the South African Collection of Pucker Gallery, Boston, MA

$1200

Inventory # SA557

A stunning example with unusual incised triangular designs set into bands encircling the pot.
Zulu people would often buy beer from a Zulu woman who would run a beerhouse in a rural area. There were different types of pots associated
with the different functions – brewing, carrying and drinking.

Large pots that were used for the brewing of the sorghum beer were called Izimbiza (pl.). These pots were never blackened by reduction firing
like the carrying and drinking pots, but the firing often produces colorful blooms on the ocher surface. The only permissible decoration is a
lightly combed surface, achieved with a stripped corncob.

Vessels used to carry the beer from the beerhouse back to the place where it was to be consumed were called uphiso. These vessels differed
in size and shape, they had a very low collar to prevent spillage during transit, and were usually, but not always, larger than the pots used for
drinking.

Beerpots used for drinking also came in various sizes. Larger pots would be set down among a group of drinkers and used to dispense beer
while others may be comfortably held and passed around. Larger pots were used for larger entertaining functions and are associated with
chiefly and other prominent households while smaller pots were used for individual consumption or smaller gatherings. “Size is additionally
important in expressing a beerpots’ inherent nature as a symbol of hospitality; to serve a guest beer in too small a pot would indicate to them
that they were not welcome to stay for a long visit” (Rosemary Williams 1999).

sitting around two half circles, the men on one side and the women on the other, with the beerpot placed in the middle. The drinking of this beer


Zulu women handcrafted these beautiful and wonderfully diverse pots by hand by layering clay rolled into long, thin sections that were then
coiled into rings to form the pot. The rings were then flattened and smoothed and fired in a shallow pit. Blackening is achieved with reduction
firing using dung to honor the ancestors. The pots are polished with animal fat, which also honors the ancestors, and polished using a pebble
with sifted soot and a special leaf-ash.

Pots are adorned with various types of surface decorations. Raised studs, circular or square, are called amansumpa and are commonly found
on beerpots and other Zulu artifacts, this design refers to the scarification patterns found on young Zulu women and is very important culturally.
Other designs are incised into the pots in varied styles and forms. Although there is a recurrence of shape, pattern and motif on Zulu pots, they
are all amazingly different which is part of what makes them so wonderful.

References: Africa: The Art of a Continent, Works of the People of Southern Africa IV, Pots in Zulu symbolism by Gary van Wyk
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