Everyday Life

Pottery jug

Artifacts used in everyday life

The items displayed in this section are donations from the Hess family related to everyday life. The pottery jug on the left is one example. This item is a handmade jug with a flattened bottom, rounded body and straight neck. Most Ethiopian pottery is either black or natural clay colored. The black color is achieved by coating the object in oil and then firing it. This is why the bottom is darker than the top of the jug.

Basket set I

These two baskets showcase traditional Ethiopian styles, woven with two mixed techniques: coiling for the structure, and stake and strand for decoration. One basket is shaped as a plate, and the other has a lid. Usually, baskets in these shapes are used to store food.

Basket Set II

These three baskets are part of a set of four similar baskets. They were woven using a coiling technique, using traditionally Ethiopian colors and designs. One of them is shaped as a plate with a footed base, and two are shaped as bowls. In addition to the natural fiber color, combinations of yellow, green, purple, and pink are used in the designs.

Fly-whisk

This fly-whisk is used to swat or disturb flies. It is made of white horse hair and has a looped handle. Covered in an unknown material, possibly plant fiber, the handle is braided in black and white stripes.

Ear pick

This very small object, made of steel, consists of a rectangular body, with a suspension loop end on one side, and a spoon-like end opposite to it. Both the front and the back arecovered with steel decorations. The little spoon was used to remove wax from the user’s ears. It is also common to find ear picks attached to the end of pendant crosses. It is believed that evil spirits can enter the body through the ear when it is being cleaned, and a cross handle can protect the user from that.

Harari Baskets

The two baskets displayed here are especially important for the Harari people of eastern Ethiopia. They are part of a dowry set that a bride must bring to her wedding ceremony. A traditional Harari set today consists of fifteen baskets, each of them designed for a particular use.

Gufta mudai (left)

This gufta mudai basket is used to store the bride’s hairnets and makeup. This basket is used on the fourth day of the wedding celebration in a sheeney sheeney ceremony, in which female relatives and the groom dress the bride.

The bottom is decorated with a strip of leather, with cowrie shells stitched on top. A piece of leather with cowrie shells is also attached to four opposite sides, forming handle. From each handle, little cowrie pendants were hung. One of them is still attached.

Small Harari Basket (right)

As the gufta mudai, this conical lidded basket displays intricate colored patterns woven in plant fiber in a coiling technique. The colors are very much alike, and the design, in some segments, is exactly the same as the one in found in the gufta mudai basket. The major difference between them is that the smaller basket does not have leather and cowrie shells decorations.