FEATURE 102 FIG. 6 (left): Potters at work. Tshokwe, Dilolo region (Namwama village), DR Congo. Photograph by C. Lamote, 1940, MRAC archives, inv. EP.0.0.14107. Even though pottery in DR Congo is normally the province of women, there are certainly men who practice this art. While the masculine aspect of ceramic creation is apparent in figural works, it would be wrong to suppose that all anthropomorphic vessels are the creations of male potters. Certain groups, notably the Kanyok and the Luba, have ceramics with anthropomorphic necks created by female potters. FIG. 8 (left): Pot. Bwende (?), DR Congo. 31 x 35 cm. Collected before 1897. MRAC, inv. EO.0.0.24609. FIG. 7 (above): Jug. Buma, DR Congo. 34 x 25 cm. Collected before 1907 and possibly before 1897. MRAC, inv. EO.0.0.3983. The evenness of the parallel lines that decorate this ceramic is not due to the use of a potter’s wheel as one might assume at first glance. In order to create them, the artist turned the piece with one hand while using the other to trace the lines using an awl. The execution of this type of decoration requires considerable skill. FIG. 9 (right): Ngbaka potter. Gemena region, DR Congo. Photograph by H. Rosy, 1936, MRAC archives, inv. EP.0.0.14018. FIG. 10 (far right): Ngbandi potter. Yakoma region, DR Congo. Photograph by H. Rosy, 1936, MRAC archives, inv. AP.0.2.1984. FIG. 11 (facing page): Plate VIII from “La Céramique” (Coart and de Haulleville, 1907).
T80E
To see the actual publication please follow the link above