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
- People Facet:
- Dr. M. Dores Cruz
- Commentary:
- Slide scanned by Veronique Plante
- Geographic Coordinates:
- 7.852430, -2.646146