Gurage Terracotta Bowl Taba

Gurage people, late   20th century, Ethiopia, East Africa

Beautiful hand made terracotta bowl, taba, are used for serving the traditional food, Kitfo. The Gurage people are Afro-Asiatic ethnolinguistic group inhabiting the fertile, semi-mountainous region in central Ethiopia, about 240 kilometers south and west of Addis Ababa, bounded by the Awash River on the north, the Gilgel Gibe River (a tributary of the Omo River) on the southwest, and Lake Ziway on the east. The Gurage have belief in supreme being and a creator god called "Waq". They participate in traditional religious practices such as offerings to Waq, their supreme deity. Earth shrines to Waq are common outside of villages. They hang effigies of ancestral gods in their houses to ward off evil spirit.

Gurage potters, who are predominantly women, make various cooking vessels using locally available clay and then distribute the completed products throughout the area. They rarely use tools as advanced as a potter's wheel, and instead craft their pottery using their hands, fingers, and simply tools, such as a piece of gourd. Once the molded pots are dry, the potters fire them in an open field and then sell their pots at the local markets. 

Traditional shallow terracotta bowl are in good condition. Delicate simple decorations. Age-related wear and signs of use. Minimal chip and abrasion. Size approx. 15,5cm x 17,0cm x 5,5cm.

Provenance: Danish private collection

References and further reading:

Gurage, 101lasttribes (http://www.101lasttribes.com/tribes/gurage.html)

Pottery and potters, Encyclopaedia-Aethiopica (https://en.sewasew.com/p/pottery-in-ethiopia.com)