Chilongo chakumuto (water vessel)

Primarily used for transporting and storing water, intricately ornamented ceramic vessels were among the most treasured possessions of Makonde women. Made on commission, the incised designs are highly individual and often mirrored the cicatrization patterns emblazoned on the patron's body. Indeed, the Makonde word for drawing or engraving designs on pottery, nkova, also refers to tattooing or incising cicatrization marks. Carried on the owner's head, the decorated pot served as a visual extension of her body and an expression of her identity that she kept for her entire life. The interrelationship between the vessel and owner is expressed by the pot's extended use: when a pot became too worn for carrying water, the owner might convert it into a storage vessel for dry goods. Later, it might also be placed on the woman's grave.

Such vessels were carefully crafted by their creators using the coiling technique in which clay is rolled into a rope-like shape that is successively coiled on top of itself to form the vessel. The coiled walls are then smoothed and further shaped before it is painted with a mica-rich wash of earth, charcoal, and water, which gives the pot its distinctive dark hue. Once it reaches a leather-hard stage, the potter burnishes, or polishes, the surface by rubbing a stone across the clay until it is smooth and hard. At this point the artist begins the laborious process of marking the outlines of the pattern before incising the various design elements. After firing the vessel, those designs are further highlighted with the application of white powdered kaolin, which stands in stark contrast to the dark, smooth walls. This chilongo chakumuto is a particularly exceptional example with meticulous hatching and low-relief zigzags spanning ten horizontal bands. A central section composed of undulating intersecting arches visually evokes the movement of water as it might sway when being carried between the well and the owner's home.