Récipient de prestige
Description
wood, rest.
Based on stylistic features, this vessel can be attributed to a carver named Muhlati (or his workshop).
His work is distinctive and characterised by figures with incised circular eyes, circular ears with an interior triangular form and slit mouths. He worked with blonde wood, with hair and clothing of his figures darkened by branding.
A figure by his hand illustrated in Stevenson & Graham-Stewart, 2003, p. 45. A figural vessel by Muhlati published in AHDRC 0116214.
Muhlati was a noted carver who was active in the colonial Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) in Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique) in the late19th century. He was a member of the Tsonga or Shangaan ethnic group and was famous throughout the land for his talent. He is best known for his distinctively styled, figural carvings, bowls and tankards.