Container, Possibly for Use as an Oil Lamp

The mountainous Grassfields region of Cameroon is home to highly stratified chiefdoms that are bound together by a history of cultural contact and shared political structures. On the Ndop Plain, in the heart of the Grassfields, pottery is dominated by two production centers, at Babessi and Nsei, also called Bamessing. In Babessi, pottery is the occupation of women, who make thin-walled vessels that are embellished with roulette-impressed patterns and appliquéd motifs. In Nsei both women and men produce ceramics, although certain forms and decorative motifs are restricted to one sex or the other. Potters use both the direct pull and coiling techniques, forming the most elaborate wares with thick walls that allow for deeply incised ornamentation with a variety of carving tools.

Nsei is possibly the place of origin of this compact container that has a small access hole on top and a looping handle on one side. The container’s intended function is uncertain. It may have been used as an oil lamp, a pottery form that faded from use beginning in the late 1940s. The rows of deeply incised lines laid out patchwork-style in contrasting directions are certainly suggestive of the reductive style of embellishment practiced by Nsei potters.