Traditional Zulu cosmology and social life balance the roles of men and women. A patrilineal society, it is the male ancestors who dominate the household and draw the line back to the point of origin, in the heavens. The Zulu take their name from the sky, and it there that the Sky-Lord lives, Mvelinqangi, the Creator who rules the lightning that can destroy. His twin and wife is the earth, which nourishes and sustains.

The world of men centers around the cattle. The cattle kraal, or corral, is the focal point for the male ancestors. Wives are "bought" with cattle from this kraal; in return wives perpetuate the family and provide daughters whose bride-prices replenish the herd and pay for their brothers' marriages. Taboos circumscribe women's contact both with their husbands' ancestors and to cattle, which relegates women's roles to the fields and the hearth. Women are closely associated with the earth, from which they alone make pots. The Zulu goddess, Nkosozana presided over the growth of crops, which women cultivated, and she taught women to make beer; her cult, known as uNomdede, has been revived recently, as have annual First Fruit ceremonies, presided over by the king.

The ancestors also take keen interest in fertility, and in conception and the cycle of life and death itself. Indeed, fertility is one of the blessings that ancestors bestow. Pots illustrate this symbolism in several ways, as does beer, made of sorghum and millet, which forms a vital medium of communion with the ancestors.

The ancestors are associated with the twirled fire stick that ignites fire, and with conception, which produces heatÑas does fermentation. Because of these sacred connotations of fermentation, women who are menstruating, pregnant, suckling, not abstinent, or otherwise ritually "hot" must avoid it.

The final steps of fermentation occur inside the brewing pot, imbiza, which is placed upon a sacred, raised platform, called the umsamo, at the farthest recesses of the kitchen. The umsamo, which is also erected in each individual sleeping house, is where the ancestors come to commune with the living. They are attracted to it because it is the darkest spot, and the ancestors are associated with darkness. Before the family can drink or serve beer, some of the readied brew must be placed on every umsamo in the household in a special pot set aside for this use. Only elders or the mother of the household head may drink the beer reserved for the ancestors, or offer it to others.

The smoke of incense and, sometimes, burnt offerings from a sacrificed animal are also used to commune with the ancestors. These offerings are burned on a pot sherd, and the ash is discarded in the corral, which is associated with the ancestors.

The consumption of beer allows both social and spiritual communion. Beer marks such important social events as marriage and the solution of disputes, and beer is always present when the ancestors are implicated.

Several types of Zulu pots existed, though terms and types varied across the Zulu-speaking region. Modern Western vessels have replaced most pots except those used for the sacred substance of beer.

Among beer pots, the key ritual importance of the large imbiza, or brewing pot, probably accounts for its survival today. A imbiza is always smeared lightly with cattle dung above the shoulder, to cement its link to the patrilineal ancestors and to protect against lighting, lest the fermentation process anger the Sky-Lord by appropriating his powers.

Izimbiza (pl.) are never blackened by reduction firing. Though the firing often produces colorful blooms on the ocher surface, the only permissible decoration is a lightly combed surface, achieved with a stripped corncob.

Izimbiza range from approximately 40 to 60 centimeters in height, and can also be used for storing beer. Fine imbiza are still appreciated and traded widely. The large example on exhibition is from the village of Masebeko, renowned in Zululand for its skill and quality of izimbiza. To convey these heavy pots to the nearest market, women carry them on their heads for an eight-hour walk.

Vessels for carrying, serving, and drinking beer are decorated and blackened by reduction firing with dung to honor the ancestors. Blackening can also be achieved over a smoky fire containing thatch grass, oily and poisonous tambooti wood, or even an old rubber sole to producing a brilliant black sheen, which is then polished with beef fat. This process is not merely aesthetic but also honors the ancestors and the blackness that gives them access.

Pots for serving and drinking beer, izikhamba (sing. ukhamba), range from 15cm-40cm. Some are so large that they would be set down among a group of drinkers and used to dispense beer; others may be comfortably held and passed around. The largest pots indicate lavish entertaining, and are associated with chiefly and other prominent households. The smallest type of pot (5-9" in height), the umancishana, is mostly used for gruel, but also sometimes for beer, for example if the household head just wants to have a small cup for refreshment rather than communal consumption. These are rare due to such Western substitutes as drinking mugs.

Another type of vessel, with a tall neck, either everted or straight, called uphiso or ingcazi, is used for storing or carrying beer or water. The neck reduces spillage.

Decoration, applied, indented, and/or incised, varies widely, but usually centers on the shoulder of the pot. Bumps, called amansumpa, are either stuck on or embossed from inside. Amansumpa means "warts", and probably refers to the scarification patterns of young Zulu women up to the late 1800s. The amansumpa motif was a royal prerogative given to chiefs, and symbolized cattle. It is associated with high status and with Zulu clans closely associated with the kingdom. Some amansumpa is circular, it may refer to the kraal, where it is an upside-down V motif it refers to cattle horns, which both reinforce a link with the patrilineal ancestors.

>> To learn more about Zulu ceramics see the book: Ubumba: Aspects of indigenous ceramics in KwaZulu-Natal

Nesta Nala is the best-known ceramist working in the Zulu tradition today. She learned the craft from her mother, Siphiwe, noted for the elegance of her sparsely decorated ware. In 1976, Nesta began to sell ceramics through Vukani Association in Eshowe, established by missionaries to promote Zulu crafts. In 1983, archaeologist Leonard van Schalkwyk, commissioned her to replicate pottery shards found in the Zulu region but predating Zulu settlements. These ancient motifs increased Nesta's repertoire, and she also began to apply designs in a continuous frieze around her pots.

In 1984, Rhoda Levinsohn's Art and Craft in Southern Africa highlighted Nesta Nala as a master ceramist working within Zulu tradition. Craft advisors encouraged Nesta Nala to sign her work, and as museums, galleries, and collectors acquired her work she made the transition from curio producer to artist, and focused on creating virtuoso work. Nesta Nala represented South Africa at the Cairo International Biennale for Ceramics in 1994, and won the first prizes in South Africa's leading craft competition in 1995 and its national ceramics biennial in 1996.

Nesta Nala's pots retain traditional forms; their departure is in their decoration. Following in her footsteps are her daughters, including Thembi Nala, and her cousin, Ntombe Nala, who produced the virtuoso uphiso on exhibition.

Clive Sithole has crossed the earlier gender barrier against men making traditional pots. His pots depart from traditional Zulu ceramic types and techniques, yet retain the simplicity of form and elements of graphic design. The inclusion of bulls on one of his pots on exhibition underscores masculinity, since in Zulu thought men are associated with bulls, and the form of the bulls refers to clay models of cattle that were the favorite plaything of Zulu boys.

The Venda culture, on South Africa's northern border, has close links with the Zimbabwe culture that produced the architectural wonder of Great Zimbabwe in the 1400s. Ceramics from this region include the use of a silver burnish produced with iron oxide powder, seen on both the older Venda pots on exhibition, and the contemporary examples by Maselina Mauludzi. Several ceramists in the Venda region continue this ancient tradition today, with support from local government and craft organizations.

Unfortunately, little is known about these ceramic traditions from Mozambique. The designs on the Makonde ceramics appear to relate to the facial scarifications of married women.

The Lwena, Lunda and Chokwe people created fine black-polished ceramics of various types. Only men created figurative ceramics. Often these represented women to evoke concepts of supernatural power and of fertility, which included wild animals. Much rarer are pots representing animals, such as the example on exhibition, which probably dates to the early twentieth century. The animal is a leopard, symbol of chiefs. This signed pot was exhibited on the exhibition entitled Chokwe!, exhibited at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts (1998-2000).

Pot lids protected beer from dust, flies, and malevolent medicine. They could be woven from fronds of the ilala palm or from various types of grasses. The beaded decoration, which follows regional styles and fashions, pleased the spirits and the viewer. Unlike other household objects, which belonged to women, beaded imbenge covers were prestige items owned by the male head of the household.

Izimbenge placed upside down signified that the beer was almost finished and the guest should leave, or simply that the guest was unwelcome. Similarly, when a wife served beer to her husband, she could send subtle messages to him about the state of their relationship by the way that the lid was placed on the pot.

© Gary van Wyk/Axis Gallery