Bottles and Vessel

Various dates, ranging 1000–1480

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 199

Thousands of tumuli, or man-made mounds, are found across Senegal, much of the Gambia, and Mali’s Middle Niger region. They range from stone or gravel mounds six to nine feet high to sand dunes of fifty or more feet. Twelfth-century Arab commentators on the Ghana empire noted that upon death, Ghana’s leader was buried within a mound accompanied by "his ornaments, armies, and the vessels from which he used to eat and drink." This selection of earthenware excavated from the Killi Tumulus represents an array of vessel types. In preparation for this exhibition, a scientific campaign sought to date these works more precisely, establishing that they were produced during the first half of the second millennium.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Provenance

References

Title: Bottles and Vessel
Date: Various dates, ranging 1000–1480
Geography: Mali, Gundam region
Medium: Terracotta
Dimensions: Various dimensions
Classification: Ceramics-Vessels
Credit Line: Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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Division Viol, Richard Meares British, Spruce, ebony, maple, British — Division Viol
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Vessel Lid, Terracotta, Dogon or Tellem peoples (?) — Vessel Lid
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Globular vessel with twine impressions, Middle Niger artist(s), Terracotta, Middle Niger civilization (?) — Globular vessel with twine impressions
Middle Niger artist(s)
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