Vessel
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, there was an efflorescence in the production of decorated pottery among several neighboring groups in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. European travelers in the mid-nineteenth century encountered powerful rulers, some of whom had elaborate courts with multiple wives and artists who made prestige objects. Europeans wrote admiringly about the fashionable Mangbetu women they encountered and the ivory, wooden, and ceramic objects that portrayed their distinctive style of adornment.
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, objects with sculpted heads were rare in the region, especially among the Mangbetu. A few examples are known from the Zande, Barambo, and Bongo people to the North. In the early period of Belgian rule, however, cosmopolitan centers like the town of Niangara, attracted artists from different places. They shared techniques and styles and created ivory and wooden musical instruments, bark boxes, knife handles, and ceramic jars that portrayed the iconic Mangbetu woman. Treasured by local people as prestige objects, they formed part of court orchestras and were given or sold to foreign visitors.
Among the Mangbetu, infants’ heads were bound with a fine braided twine to create the highly admired elongated skull. As adults, men and women would wrap their heads with fine twine to emphasize the elongated shape. Men wore fine feathered hats and women wore hair extensions that created the halo-like appearance that is portrayed in this vessel. Scarification and body paint completed a women’s visual impact, and those elements were also portrayed in sculpted pottery.
While women made utilitarian ceramics, many of the elaborately decorated examples known from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were made by men. Blacksmiths worked with metal, ivory, and wood, and some also turned to ceramics in this period. In a series of illuminating photographs from the 1940s, it is apparent that a woman is building a vessel, while a male artist has stepped in and sculpted the head.
Enid Schildkrout, Curator Emerita, American Museum of Natural History, 2025
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, objects with sculpted heads were rare in the region, especially among the Mangbetu. A few examples are known from the Zande, Barambo, and Bongo people to the North. In the early period of Belgian rule, however, cosmopolitan centers like the town of Niangara, attracted artists from different places. They shared techniques and styles and created ivory and wooden musical instruments, bark boxes, knife handles, and ceramic jars that portrayed the iconic Mangbetu woman. Treasured by local people as prestige objects, they formed part of court orchestras and were given or sold to foreign visitors.
Among the Mangbetu, infants’ heads were bound with a fine braided twine to create the highly admired elongated skull. As adults, men and women would wrap their heads with fine twine to emphasize the elongated shape. Men wore fine feathered hats and women wore hair extensions that created the halo-like appearance that is portrayed in this vessel. Scarification and body paint completed a women’s visual impact, and those elements were also portrayed in sculpted pottery.
While women made utilitarian ceramics, many of the elaborately decorated examples known from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were made by men. Blacksmiths worked with metal, ivory, and wood, and some also turned to ceramics in this period. In a series of illuminating photographs from the 1940s, it is apparent that a woman is building a vessel, while a male artist has stepped in and sculpted the head.
Enid Schildkrout, Curator Emerita, American Museum of Natural History, 2025
Artwork Details
- Title: Vessel
- Artist: Mangbetu artist
- Date: First half of 20th century
- Geography: Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern region
- Culture: Mangbetu peoples
- Medium: Terracotta, slip(?)
- Dimensions: H. 8 3/16 x W. 6 1/4 x D. 6 1/4 in. (20.8 x 15.9 x 15.9 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics-Containers
- Credit Line: The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979
- Object Number: 1979.206.246
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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