The Zulu carve spoons from a soft wood that is cut and shaped, then smoothed with an abrasive bark. Typically the spoons are ornamented by leaving a raised area on the handle that is textured with incised linear designs. Such spoons are not only functional but testify to the ability of the family to offer hospitality, which is a status symbol.
Description:
Wood large spoon or ladle with a round bowl and a side handle that is straight for one third length which then divides into two shafts set off by rectangular blocks, then a single straight shaft to end that flattens with a triangular cut out. The edge of the bowl, rectangular blocks, and area around the triangular cut out are all darkened. The tops of the rectangular block and adjoining staff have incised horizontal grooves.
Provenance:
Collected Umbilu-Natal, 1933
Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1989
Exhibition History:
Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
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