Beer pot c. mid 20th century

This beer pot was made by the Nyakyusa people, and although we don’t know when exactly, it’s the making that feels important here. It is not like throwing something on the wheel, I imagine it was hand built, coil by coil, very slowly. I’m drawn to that soft, reddish tone against the dark base, it really makes you think about the process and material. You can see where it's been smoothed and worked, like the fingerprints left on the clay. Look at that horizon line about a third of the way up, and how the whole bottom half of the vessel is nearly black. It's a record of firing in a kiln, or maybe in an open pit? I love how the pot itself becomes a kind of performance or ritual. It's like Lucie Rie’s domestic ware, or even some of the pots by Magdalene Odundo, but it’s also unlike them. It is a completely different sensibility, showing how even within similar forms, an artwork can still embrace so many different interpretations.