1. Painting a spindle whorl, Kokua, 1994

Description:

Spindle whorls (gԑndԑ kaan in Nafaanra) are made by Muslim men in Kokua, a village on the Sampa-Asri road. Here a man decorates fired clay whorls, applying bands of colors (white, red, yellow) to their dark surface. He applies the color using a stylus, twisting the whorl to create horizontal bands around the whorl's circumference. In the foreground a finished spindle whorl sits on top of unpainted whorls in a metal pot. A bundle of thin wooden spindles sits at the man's foot, next to a calabash that holds white pigment. Yellow pigment is held by another container, possibly a turtle shell (carapace). Next to it, a red pigment stone (ochre) rests on a heavily worn grinding stone. The beauty of such a painted spindle whorl inspired the Nafaanra proverb "Chlͻ were nyu na gԑndԑ yi" (The woman is as beautiful as the spindle whorl.") Archaeological examples of whorls found on late 18th- and 19th-century sites in the Banda area are often shaped like these from Kokua, but few show signs of paint, perhaps because it has worn off during use. Kokua, 1994.

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial

Publisher:

University of Victoria Libraries

Location(s) Facet:

Kokua

Subjects:

Men's work; Decoration; Paint; Grinding stone

Subjects Facet:

Handicraft; Spindle whorls; Ocher

Identifier:

16

Creator:

Dr. M. Dores Cruz

Contributors:

Dr. Ann B. Stahl

Date searchable:

1994

Date searchable:

1994

Genre:

35 mm slide

Genre Facet:

35 mm slide

Location(s):

Kokua;7.852430, -2.646146

Date Digitized:

2016

Commentary:

Slide scanned by Veronique Plante

Geographic Coordinates:

7.852430, -2.646146