Soul pot "kusson" ·  Nigeria, Jen · ID: 3033545

Description

terracotta, polychrome paint, in anthropomorphic form, bulbous corpus modelled with handle-shaped arms, spout, min. dam., fissures, minor missing parts, rest.,
a number of ethnic groups in north-eastern Nigeria bury their dead twice. In the period between the first and second burial - lasting from several month to one year - a receptacle, a “soul or ancestral pot”, is produced for locking up the dead person’s soul so that it might not roam around and cause harm.

Comparing literature

Schädler, Karl-Ferdinand, Encyclopedia of African Art and Culture, München 2009, p. 308 Stößel, Arnulf, Afrikanische Keramik, München 1984, p. 306