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Mukeke Food Bowls
Lozi - Barotse related bowls called mukeke.

Tribal
Map - Western Zambia - Lozi areas indicated in deep purple.
Barotseland:
Luyana was the original tribal name given and language spoken of the
Lozi people. Luyana was a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo family.
Nowadays 'Lozi' is a mixture of many languages including Luyana,
Swahili, even English, but Kololo takes center stage. It was the
Kololo (Makololo) who in fact named the Luyana people 'Lozi' which
meant 'plain', referencing the flood plain where most Luyana lived.
The Makololo had migrated from what is today Lesotho, to become the
most northerly Sotho (Bechuana) group in the region. The Makololo
were a warring lot who conquered the Luyana, then imposed their rule
and language for over 30 years. The 'Lozi' revolt in 1864 overthrew
the Kololo, but a hybrid language continued to develop.

Some but not
all 'Lozi', remain with grain storage containers of traditional
Bechwana construction.
Zambian Mukeke
Bowl

This Western
Zambia food bowl called a mukeke 'or mukeka' was made to keep food
warm, protected from flies and to present a meal in. The lid has a
geometric shaped finial which serves as a handle. The shapes are
meant to symbolize an important home or kings palace. These motifs
have been used for over a century.
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This bowl was
collected at Mbulu, located in a sparsely populated area nearby
Sioma Ngwezi National Park in South Western Zambia. The people
called themselves Lozi - but did not speak the language spoken by
Lozi living at Mongu.

The bow itself
is cracked on either side, both breaks included.☺ As a result the
lid does not fit on properly, but this might be rectified by the new
owner.
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Hut Shaped
Lozi Bowl

This mukeke
bowl forms the shape of an African hut, the lid carved as a
double-tiered roof finial.
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The rim of the
bowl has been nibbled on by a mouse or other small rodent, which
often happens once food oil builds up in the wood.
The mukeke
food bowl was purchased from a Kololo woman who lived near Sioma at
Ngonye Falls. She told us the bowl had been her mother's, born in Mbubakati village.

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Zoomorphic
Lozi Bowl

This large
prestige mukeke pot in is in the form of a fowl - either a duck or
goose.

The owner
Kalipa Manga was also from Mbubakati village. Notice how the bird's
long feet allow it to be carried on the head.
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Zoomorphic
Barotse bowls usually take the shape of or display as an aquatic creature, such as a fish or bird. The body of the bowl
and lid are carved so that one fits neatly over the other.

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Hut or
Zoomorphic Shaped Lozi Bowl

The abstract
shape surmounting this fine prestigious Barotse bowl may
symbolize a
king's palace, or a winged bird in flight. The object was early
collected and is a symmetric work of art.

The entire
double rim or lip has been carved with open chevron patterns - this
already a popular motif at the point of contact with Europeans.

How I Crossed
Africa - Serpa Pinto - Vol II - Pg 36
Colonial
Portuguese Administrator and explorer Major Alexandre Alberto da
Rocha de Serpa Pinto, visited the area in 1878. In his book: How I
Crossed Africa (1881) he described the making of wooden containers
with lids.

Volume 2 page
35 describes people living in the plain identified as Luina. (Luyana
who became Lozi - Barotse) He wrote:
The people
work in iron, and all their arms and tools are manufactured at home.
They use no knives, and one cannot fail to admire their
wood-carvings, more especially on considering that they are
untouched by a knife, but are the result of what in our eyes would
be unmanageable implements. In the Lui they employ but two; the
rough work is done by the hatchet and the fine by the assegai. The
iron of the latter performs all the wonders; the benches on which
they sit, the porringers out of which they eat, the vessels that
contain their milk, and all their other wooden articles, are wrought
by its means.
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