After drying, potting clay is stored in potters' houses until needed. When the potter is ready to make a batch of clay pots, she will first pound and then sift the clay. The sifted clay is then mixed with water and kneaded until it is the right consistency for making a pot. Dorbour, 1994
A woman in Dumboli spins cotton thread. She holds raw cotton fiber in her left hand. She has attached a strand of fiber to her spindle (gԑndԑ in Nafaanra), and she prepares to set it and the spindle whorl (gԑndԑ kaan in Nafaanra) which weights it in motion with her right hand. The whorl spins inside a small white vessel (possibly an animal skull or turtle shell) resting on a basket lid. The woman sits on a low stool. Various containers used in food preparation sit behind her. The basket on which she is spinning is used to store her equipment when not in use. Seeing women spinning in their homes would have been common before the second half of the 20th century. Archaeologists find spindle whorls in houses on sites dating to the later 18th and 19th centuries. In earlier times, however, it appears that thread was primarily made in market centers rather than in households. Two photos. Dumboli, 1994.
This short video made from still photographic images shows how potters mine and process the clay they use to make pots. The video includes images of Mo potters in Bondakile and Nafana potters in Dorbour, including Yakosua. Original images used to make the video are available in the Banda Through Time Repository. Bondakile, 1982. Dorbour, 1994. Length: 2.25 minutes.
A woman in Bondakile spins cotton thread from raw fiber held in her left hand. She holds the raw cotton between her thumb and index finger, using her middle finger to provide tension as she stretches and thins the fibers using her right hand. The thread is wound thickly toward the base of the spindle (gԑndԑ in Nafaanra) above the spindle whorl (gԑndԑ kan in Nafaanra) which is barely visible at the base of the spindle. The woman uses (what appears to be) a turtle shell (carapace) as a surface on which to spin. She has stabilized the shell with a piece of folded cloth which sits on top of an enamel ware plate. A calabash and a plastic bucket site nearby. Spinning was a routine household activity done by women until commercially manufactured cloth became commonplace (second half of the 20th century). Two photos. Bondakile, 1994.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Bondakile
Subjects:
Plastic containers; Women's work ; Cotton thread; Techniques
Potters in Adadiem place bark over clay pots that have been stacked on top of a bed of firewood. The bonfire has been lit and the bark serves as additional fuel. More red-slipped clay pots sit behind, waiting for the next firing. One woman carries a child on her back. The bonfire will burn for between 30 minutes and an hour, after which the pots will be ready for use or sale. Abena Donkor (far right) assists while Solomon Kojo, young boy in brown shorts, looks on. Two photos. Adadiem, 1994.
Afua Donkor, a Nafana potter, selects and places fuel as she prepares to fire clay soup pots (chiin sinyjͻlͻ in Nafaanra) that have been slipped red. Other clay pots sit nearby awaiting firing, some in a headpan. The pots are carefully stacked on top of the wood and additional fuel placed on top. Additional firewood is stacked behind and in front lays the bark that she will use to cover the clay pots before lighting the bonefire. Once lit, the bonfire will burn for between 30 and 60 minutes, after which the fired pottery will be hardened, useable and ready for sale. Two photos. Dorbour, 1994.
Yaa Tenabrԑ, a Nafana potter, stands as she begins to pull a clay lump upwards and outwards, using a draw-and-drag (direct pull) technique to form the walls of a clay pot. The clay rests on a metal plate (kpankpa in Nafaanra) supported by a wooden stump. She moves clockwise around the stump, using her left hand to draw clay up from the center of the lump and her right hand to shape and thin what will become the walls of the pot. As she pulls and smooths the clay, she forms the upper body and rim of the pot. The finger marks visible at this stage of the pot's forming show the direction in which she pulls the clay as she works. These marks will be smoothed away as she continues to form the pot. She uses a maize cob (bedjukaan in Nafaanra) as a tool to shape and smooth the pot's walls. She uses a spatula-like tool to thin and further smooth the surface. When she is finished forming the body and rim, she will set the clay jar aside to dry on the wooden pallet on which it rests. Once dry, she will add a rounded base to the pot. Five photos. Dorbour, 1994.
Ama Donkor, a Nafana potter, sits as she uses moist clay to form the base of a soup pot (chiin sinyjͻlͻ in Nafaanra). She is adding the base to a body and rim that she made the day before and set aside to dry. The clay pot rests on a metal plate that she can turn as she works (kpankpa in Nafaanra). She adds small lumps of clay as she gradually builds the rounded base of the pot. Three photos. Dorbour, 1994.
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.
A man in Sabiye weaves a fiber mat (dԑnglԑ in Nafaanra) using 'gbannaa'. The mat is rolled and he works on its outer edge. Mats like these were pliable and used in a variety of ways. People slept on them within their houses. When people died, they might be wrapped in one of these valuable mats before being buried. Two photos. Sabiye, 1994.