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1930.43.46

Pottery roller of spirally twisted fibre-work, mounted on card with 1930.43.44 - .45. [ZM 13/03/2008]

1930.43.46

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Collection type
Object
Description
Pottery roller of spirally twisted fibre-work, mounted on card with 1930.43.44 - .45. [ZM 13/03/2008]
Long description
Roller of spirally twisted fibre-work, for impressing designs on pottery, mounted (glued) onto a small piece of cardboard (L = 108 mm W = 50 mm) along with 1930.43.44 and .45. [JP 23/7/2003]
Geographical reference
Nigeria
Africa > Western Africa > Nigeria
Kano
Cultural groups
Hausa
Person
Field collector Henry Balfour
PRM source Henry Balfour
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1930
Date collected
July - September 1930
Acquisition information
Donated: 1930
Materials and processes
Material Plant Stem
Dimensions
Length 54 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1930.43.46
Research and responses

Related Documents File - Small impression taken from this item. [JP 23/7/2003]

Associated publications
Referred to with 1930.43.45 on pages 84 (English) and 85 (French) of 'Modern Roulettes in Sub-Saharan Africa / Roulettes modernes d'Afrique sub-saharienne', by Alexandre Livingstone Smith et al., in African Pottery Roulettes Past and Present: Techniques, Identification and Distribution, edited by A. Haour et al. (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2010), pp. 36-114. Referred to as evidence of the spatial distribution of roulettes made of the Blepharis linariifolia or B. ciliaris plant. The authors write: 'This is a small plant of the Acanthus family, commonly found in Sahelian environments.... The part of the plant used is the ear. Its lateral leaves are removed with a knife to free the central vein, from which emerge a series of protrusions corresponding to the bases of the leaves. Sometimes, the central vein is hardened with fire to make it more durable. The impression takes the form of a staggered network of very tiny depressions (resulting from the individual protrusions), in the shape of horizontal figures of eight, or rectangles or of lozenges depending on how work the tool is...'. [JC 19 11 2010]

Search terms: Pottery, Tool, Potter's Tool