Small pedestal-based bowls like this one (called kontondԑԑ in Nafaanra) are used in funeral rituals. Women cook food and offer it to the ancestors in a funeral ceremony called 'sro waa'. Larger versions of these bowls were used in times past as women's eating bowls; however, by the late 20th century small versions like this one were only made to order for funerals. Men were prohibited from touching them. Dorbour, 1994.
Fired clay stands like these were made by potters for use in the kitchen area of houses. Grouped together in threes like hearthstones, the stands supported pots over an open fire during cooking. Some of these fired clay stands had an opening, allowing pieces of meat to be placed inside where it slow-cooked and dried as other parts of the meal were cooking. Dorbour, 1994.
Young women carry headpans loaded with blackened clay bowls as they head to market. One girl has secured her load with rope netting. Standing right is the daughter of Yao Mosi. Adadiem, 1994.
Women of Kafͻnͻ Katoo gather around multiple hearths in the compound's courtyard preparing the day's main meal. Kitchen equipment ranging from locally made pottery, metal pots, sieving baskets and headpans are visible. The women sit on low stools, some carved and others made from sawn boards. Posts surrounding several hearths create a rack for storing items. Thatch - and metal-roofed rooms surround the courtyard. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
In order to transport clay pots by motor vehicle, they must be carefully packed and padded. Here, blackened clay grinding bowls packed in grass have arrived in Techiman market from potting villages in Banda. Techiman, 1994.
Unfinished clay grinding bowls dry on the palettes (kpankpa in Nafaanra) on which they were formed. After they have dried to a leather-hard state, the potter will remove them from their palettes and score their interiors. The scoring creates a grinding surface used to process vegetables which are added to soups. These bowls may also serve as men's eating bowls (pԑԑ in Nafaanra). Immediately behind the drying bowls is a hearth, swept clean of ashes. Pottery jars can be seen drying in background, right. A chicken forages nearby. Bondakile, October, 1982.
A standing potter puts the finishing touches on the rim of a clay jar that she has molded using a draw-and-drag (direct pull) technique. She has finished the body, neck and rim of the jar and will now set it aside to dry. After it has dried to a leather-hard state, she will remove the jar from the palette (kpankpa in Nafaanra) on which it has been formed and she will add a rounded base. Bondakile, October, 1982.
A standing potter molds the body of a clay jar using a draw-and-drag (direct pull) technique. As she began she drew the moist clay upward and outward from the lump with which she started. Here she shapes the jar's neck and outward flaring rim. Before doing so, she has smoothed away finger marks created as she formed the jar's body. As she works, she moves around the stump that supports the palette on which the jar is being formed. Bondakile, October, 1982.
A potter has completed the draw-and-drag (direct pull) molding of a clay jar body and rim. The surface of the jar has been moistened and smoothed. It will be set aside to dry. Once it has dried to a leather-hard state, she will remove the partially finished jar from the palette (kpankpa in Nafaanra) on which she formed it and will add a rounded base using fresh, moist clay. Bondakile, October, 1982.