Calabash; Gourd; Container
Item
Title
Calabash; Gourd; Container
Creator
Unrecorded
Description
Physical Description: Round container, made from a section of a gourd or calabash, decorated with incised black lines and triangular shapes. There is a short leather thong attached to the side with a knot to form a carrying handle.
Contextual Description: 02:11:37 A calabash for drinking beer, he says of course they would come in different sizes and shapes and he was explaining the ones used for beer have to be like cylindrical.RHH: The same shape as that for beer, or is that one too round?
SL: To use it for drinking you have to make the opening a bit wider than this, and the smaller opening means that its maybe for storage.
He said that you find sometimes bigger gourds which you can use for making sour milk. Transcription by KL of MAC_BB_20190817_RPM3 SL Interview with Tshupo Ntono, Village Elder, Language: Setswana with English translations by SL, 2019
SL: To use it for drinking you have to make the opening a bit wider than this, and the smaller opening means that its maybe for storage.
He said that you find sometimes bigger gourds which you can use for making sour milk. Transcription by KL of MAC_BB_20190817_RPM3 SL Interview with Tshupo Ntono, Village Elder, Language: Setswana with English translations by SL, 2019
Contextual Description: JM 51:28
General purpose.
SL 51:29
Yeah, or serving liquids. Water, traditional beer or milk.
GK 51:45
What confuses me is these burnt marks
SL 51:47
for decorating, yeah
GK 51:49
I've never seen anything like that
SL 51:54
but you have today they even make them more
SL 51:58
what's the term…
SL 52:00
more fancy like if you think of the ones that you see in a craft shops a tiny tiny engravings and bevel marks making you know all kinds patterns... on calabash I'm telling you I've seen those. There is something worth noting.
SL 52:32
Our domestic utensils were not like meant for one purpose. So this as much as we said this can be like used for serving, it can also be used for storing. I think maybe that is why it has a leather thing.
SL 52:54
We didn't have fancy cupboards and stuff like that and cup hooks but there'll be a tree which has a thing where you can like hang this up on the tree and nothing will disturb your whatever, you know whatever you're storing in there.
The above notes are from a transcription by Kathleen Lawther of a discussion between Gase Kediseng, JoAnn McGregor, Nicola Stylianou, Scobie Lekhuthile and Winani Thebele which took place at the Khama III Memorial Museum on the 5th of August 2019. To listen to the full recording please follow the link below.
General purpose.
SL 51:29
Yeah, or serving liquids. Water, traditional beer or milk.
GK 51:45
What confuses me is these burnt marks
SL 51:47
for decorating, yeah
GK 51:49
I've never seen anything like that
SL 51:54
but you have today they even make them more
SL 51:58
what's the term…
SL 52:00
more fancy like if you think of the ones that you see in a craft shops a tiny tiny engravings and bevel marks making you know all kinds patterns... on calabash I'm telling you I've seen those. There is something worth noting.
SL 52:32
Our domestic utensils were not like meant for one purpose. So this as much as we said this can be like used for serving, it can also be used for storing. I think maybe that is why it has a leather thing.
SL 52:54
We didn't have fancy cupboards and stuff like that and cup hooks but there'll be a tree which has a thing where you can like hang this up on the tree and nothing will disturb your whatever, you know whatever you're storing in there.
The above notes are from a transcription by Kathleen Lawther of a discussion between Gase Kediseng, JoAnn McGregor, Nicola Stylianou, Scobie Lekhuthile and Winani Thebele which took place at the Khama III Memorial Museum on the 5th of August 2019. To listen to the full recording please follow the link below.
Publisher
Making African Connections
Date
Pre 1899
Type
PhysicalObject
Format
Whole: 96 mm x 108 mm
gourd; leather
Identifier
R4007/62
Source
Collected by Reverend William Charles Willoughby, a Christian missionary, in what was then the Bechuanaland Protectorate (1885-1966). It is now the Republic of Botswana, having gained independence from Britain in 1966.
From 1889-92 Willoughby was pastor at Union Street Church, Brighton (now The Font pub). From 1893 to 1898 he worked for the London Missionary Society in Bechuanaland. He assembled this collection of objects during this period. This was a period of social and technological changes and these objects represent traditional lifestyles and skills, rather than the contemporary lives of the people Willoughby met.
Willoughby's collection was loaned to Brighton Museum in 1899 when he returned to the UK. The loan was converted into a donation in 1936, and accessioned as acquisition R4007.
Some objects were re-numbered with the WA (World Art) numbering system in the 2000s. These numbers have been reverted to the original R4007/... numbers where possible for consistency in 2019.
From 1889-92 Willoughby was pastor at Union Street Church, Brighton (now The Font pub). From 1893 to 1898 he worked for the London Missionary Society in Bechuanaland. He assembled this collection of objects during this period. This was a period of social and technological changes and these objects represent traditional lifestyles and skills, rather than the contemporary lives of the people Willoughby met.
Willoughby's collection was loaned to Brighton Museum in 1899 when he returned to the UK. The loan was converted into a donation in 1936, and accessioned as acquisition R4007.
Some objects were re-numbered with the WA (World Art) numbering system in the 2000s. These numbers have been reverted to the original R4007/... numbers where possible for consistency in 2019.
William Charles Willoughby
Botswana, Southern Africa, Africa
1893-1898
Space/Place
Botswana, Southern Africa, Africa
Cultural Group: Tswana
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International