Hausa Ink Pot (Nigeria)

Art objects are interwoven with daily life in Africa in ways quite different from much Western art. Frequently, the forms and surfaces of every day utilitarian household and personal objects, such as vessels and stools, are embellished with an array of striking designs. African people employ a large variety of materials to make their utensils. Gourds and other raw materials such as grasses, reeds, sedges, and creepers are most often used for vessels. Gourd and basketry containers generally are more prevalent than ceramic ones, which are heavier and more fragile. The gourd has four main shapes; globular, flattened, bottle-shaped, and tubular. The variety of shaped makes them very practical for utility. The hollowed-out shell of the symmetrical gourd has a critical function for the African people. Since it is inexpensive, durable, light and portable, it is suitable for transporting, storing and serving food stuffs and liquids. Other uses include protective bonnets for children, fishing floats, seed-drills, henna baths and smoking pipes, etc. Gourds and calabashes are embellished using three types of decorative techniques: pyro-engraving, (poker work), pressure-engraving, (including scraping), and carving. In pyro-hyphen engraving, a heated leaf shaped blade is used to draw a design in the gourd while it is rotated. Different color and texture effects are achieved by a 'rocking' technique or by 'scorching'.

In the former, a partially cooled blade produces a bronze or reddish brown tone. In the latter, a flat blade produces a contrasting matte finish. Pressure-engraving existed before the introduction of pyro-engraving. Carvers draw on the work surface by dragging a metal point, like a dagger, across the surface toward the carver's body. This process is very painstaking. Carving is a technique used to create a relief pattern by the Hausa people of Nigeria. In this technique the background of the design is cut or scraped away, leaving the unmarked shell. Therefore, it is possible to produce shadows which create a three-dimensional effect by using an angled blade. Fibrous materials are used to make baskets and mats. Baskets are used to store a variety of things such as food, liquids (milk and water), spoons and trinkets, as well as for serving food. Bottle-shaped baskets are for sifting cassava flour. Basketry materials such as cotton, raffia, split palm leaves and bark, are soaked in water to make them soft. Raw ends and the material are cut off using a small knife. An iron awl is handled to pierce holes in coil-sewn baskets to allow threading of the sewn element. A great variety of decoration can be seen on African baskets. Some glossy materials such as split reeds may be applied to the outer surface to contrast with the matte interior. Dyes are obtained in a variety of ways. For instance, black can be made from swamp mud; red, yellow, or brown from vegetable pigments, and white from riverain clay. Ceramic vessels are made for storing or transporting such items as water, beer, palm wine, oil, butter, medicines, ink, or dye solutions. Pots for storing and cooling water are large, with little or no neck, for easy access to allow the maximum surface area for evaporation.