Beer pot c. mid 20th century

This beer pot was made by a Zulu artist, and I’m immediately drawn to the hand-worked quality of the piece. You can really feel the artist's engagement with the material! The surface is a field of texture; lines have been etched with what looks like a sharp tool. The contrast is striking: the smooth, dark areas against the light, roughened textures where the artist has worked. I love the band of geometric shapes. Triangles and rectangles, filled with cross-hatched lines, contrast against what look like stylized leaves. The shapes are outlined in dark relief. I find my eye drawn to these bold shapes, this confident mark-making! It reminds me of the drawings of Paul Klee. There’s a similar sense of play and exploration of form. But here, we also have this beautiful, tactile object. In a way, it's a fusion of art and life, with function and beauty intertwined. What a reminder that art is, above all, about process and communication.