Pottery
Production date
Unknown
Country
Papua New Guinea
State/Province
North Solomons Province
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Object detail
Description
Earthenware pot with stains from putty nut sealing High shoulder, round base and everted rim.
Classification
INDIGENOUS CULTURES Melanesian & South Sea Islander pottery
Maker
Production date
Unknown
Production place
Measurements
H.275 x Dia.273mm
Media/Materials description
Earthenware
History and use
Pot making seems to be disappearing throughout most of southern Bougainville, whilst the practice has died out on the islands of the Bougainville Strait. From what has been observed, only cooking pots are made with pointed or round bases, high shoulders and necks and everted rims. Noticeable features of these pots are the marks left by the beater at the angle of the neck and flaring rim, including the stained surface texture which comes from sealing with the putty nut.
It has been suggested that the women of Alu (Shortland Islands) moved to the area of Kieta during the late 1800s, bringing with them the art of pot making which can be noted in the similarity of forming methods with people from the Nasioi language group. There is a legend of a boy named Kii who looked upon the newly made pots as humans and asked them to come in out of the rain to avoid getting ruined. It is said that the art of pottery was invented by his mother, a woman of Alu origin.
Traditionally, the women gather the clay, kansi, with great care not to drop any on the ground. The clay is usually wrapped in wet banana leaves for a week or two and when needed, is spread on a board and pounded with a rock. A little fresh water is poured on the clay from a bamboo tub and foreign matter is removed.
The readied clay is patted into a solid cylindrical shape and with a ruler-shaped stick, baako, is cut into five pieces. One section is patted into a flat disc before being pressed down into a banana leaf ring-support, bapiua, forming the disc-shaped base. The other pieces are beaten into slabs, placed upright and joined to the base to form the walls with overlaps beaten firmly with a paddle and anvil. The potter continues to beat the pot until it is an even thickness with the exception of the top edge, left thick for the next layer to be joined to it. After a period of drying, the final slabs are joined with a second person usually helping to hold the slabs in place on the higher walls. The top edge is then sliced level, using a thread of coconut fibre, and smoothed with a damp stone.
A narrow stick is then used to mark where the neck will begin, creating distinct ridged marks around the angle of inflection where a leaf-shaped beater, tabi, is then used to form the neck. The pot is put aside to become firmer before the final beating which involves the base being beaten with the pot supported on the potter’s lap.
The pots are dried for about one week before firing. During the firing process, the pot is removed from the fire, the ash is brushed off and the split-open fruit of the putty nut, asita, is rubbed over the pots whilst still hot. When fully coated, the pots are put back into the hot coals to destroy the toxic substances from the nut.
Pottery was traded widely in the Nasioi area. Pots were exchanged, along with fish and salt from the coast in return for labour, coconuts, sago and tubers with people from the Arop valley. The pots were then traded further with the mountain Nasioi in exchange for bows and arrows, mats and small game.
It has been suggested that the women of Alu (Shortland Islands) moved to the area of Kieta during the late 1800s, bringing with them the art of pot making which can be noted in the similarity of forming methods with people from the Nasioi language group. There is a legend of a boy named Kii who looked upon the newly made pots as humans and asked them to come in out of the rain to avoid getting ruined. It is said that the art of pottery was invented by his mother, a woman of Alu origin.
Traditionally, the women gather the clay, kansi, with great care not to drop any on the ground. The clay is usually wrapped in wet banana leaves for a week or two and when needed, is spread on a board and pounded with a rock. A little fresh water is poured on the clay from a bamboo tub and foreign matter is removed.
The readied clay is patted into a solid cylindrical shape and with a ruler-shaped stick, baako, is cut into five pieces. One section is patted into a flat disc before being pressed down into a banana leaf ring-support, bapiua, forming the disc-shaped base. The other pieces are beaten into slabs, placed upright and joined to the base to form the walls with overlaps beaten firmly with a paddle and anvil. The potter continues to beat the pot until it is an even thickness with the exception of the top edge, left thick for the next layer to be joined to it. After a period of drying, the final slabs are joined with a second person usually helping to hold the slabs in place on the higher walls. The top edge is then sliced level, using a thread of coconut fibre, and smoothed with a damp stone.
A narrow stick is then used to mark where the neck will begin, creating distinct ridged marks around the angle of inflection where a leaf-shaped beater, tabi, is then used to form the neck. The pot is put aside to become firmer before the final beating which involves the base being beaten with the pot supported on the potter’s lap.
The pots are dried for about one week before firing. During the firing process, the pot is removed from the fire, the ash is brushed off and the split-open fruit of the putty nut, asita, is rubbed over the pots whilst still hot. When fully coated, the pots are put back into the hot coals to destroy the toxic substances from the nut.
Pottery was traded widely in the Nasioi area. Pots were exchanged, along with fish and salt from the coast in return for labour, coconuts, sago and tubers with people from the Arop valley. The pots were then traded further with the mountain Nasioi in exchange for bows and arrows, mats and small game.
Registration number
E6260
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