1966.1.1150

Collection type

Object

Description

Brass tray with punched bird and leaf decoration. [SM (Verve) 26/01/2015]

Long description

Brass tray with punched bird and leaf decoration. The tray design comprises a bird, surrounded by a curved leaf design. An alternating diamond and circular design runs around the rim. The tray is made of brass. The back is a brass colour, as is the bird design in the centre of the front. The rest of the front of the tray is a copper colour. [SM (Verve) 26/01/2015]

Geographical reference

Nigeria

Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria

Calabar

Person

Field collector Copinger Hill

PRM source Ipswich Museum

PRM source Patricia Margaret Maclaren Butler

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1966

Date collected

By 1966

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1966

Materials and processes

Material Brass Metal, Material Copper Metal, Process Punched, Process Hammered, Process Plated

Dimensions

Diameter: max 470 mm, Height 40 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1966.1.1150 Other numbers: 954.70

Research and responses

According to correspondence between Debbie Barnes of Ipswich Museum and Jeremy Coote, a third such tray from the Copinger Hill collection is retained at Ipswich Museum; see printout of emails in RDF for 1966.1.1149 and 1996.1.1150. [JC 23 9 2010]

The copper colour on the front of the object may have been achieved by putting a mix of vinegar and salt in water onto the area. This can react with the brass to create a copper layer. [SM (Verve) 27/01/2015]

Associated publications

For an account of what is known about the production of decorated brass trays in Calabar, see ‘Mermaids and Mami Wata on Brassware from Old Calabar’, by Jeremy Coote and Jill Salmons, in Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and Other Divinities in Africa and the Diaspora (African Expressive Cultures), edited by Henry Drewal, Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press (2008), pp. 258–75. [JC 23 9 2010]

Search terms: Vessel, Plate