Collection
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Title
Kámané (serving bowl)
mid 20th century
Artist
Sawos people
Papua New Guinea

About
Sawos villages are known for their conical-shaped pottery bowls, used for serving food. Pots and sago are traded from inland villages to Timbunke and Tambanum on the Sepik River, in exchange for fish, requiring hours of walking in either direction.
Clay is dug solely by women who also make the initial form using a coiling technique. Men then decorate the pots with a prodigious variety of designs, each depicting specific totems of the clans they represent.
For further information see: Helen Dennett and Paul Dennett, 'Mak bilong Sepik: a selection of designs and paintings from the Sepik River', Wirui Press, Wewak, 1975; and Margaret Tuckson and Patricia May, 'The traditional pottery of Papua New Guinea', Bay Books, Sydney, 1982.
Details
Date
mid 20th century
Materials used
earthenware, natural earth pigments
Dimensions
13.0 cm height; 31.0 cm diam
Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Gift of Todd Barlin 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Location
Not on display
Accession number
188.2020
