mortar and pestle

Hand carved wood, for pounding grain. Label attached " Church Missionary Society" Wets Africa".

PLACE: Yoruba region, Nigeria, West Africa

RELATED OBJECTS: HOB - There are other Nigerian objects . Adire Cloth (African talk box), Nigerian hats (talk box), Ibeji figures (talk box), Agogo bells (left display cabinet and music trolley),
African Worlds - (Gelede Masks).
Music Gallery - (Video and artefacts from Yoruban ceremony. Also many examples of the use of natural materials in instruments.)

Used for pounding/grinding food, mainly grain. The grain is fed by hand into the mortar (bowl) to be pounded by the pestle (stick) wchich splits and crushes the grain. Pounding grain is demanding physical work. Cerial grain such as wheat or maize is used to make dough or bread or dumplings. Despite the strict gender roles in traditional Yoruban society, this demanding physical work is typically done by women as they are the ones that traditionally prepare the food.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
nn8560
COLLECTION
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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