African Zulu Imbenge Pot Lid Covers – Telephone Wire Baskets

Galerie Ezakwantu

African Art Franschhoek South Africa Tribal Art

Central and Southern African Tribal Art

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Pipes - Snuff Bottles - Snuff Spoons

Dolls

Clay Pots

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Zulu Imbenge Pot Lids - Pot Covers

Izimbenge

Telephone Wire Baskets

and....... rare telephone wire baskets or plates of the Ba Roka / Baroka

Zulu Beer Cover or Pot Lids

"Imbenge"

WIRED: CONTEMPORARY ZULU TELEPHONE WIRE BASKETS

Zulu Beer Pots ukamba with imbenge lids.

Traditionally Nguni peoples made "imbenge", a cover used to close the "Ukamba" beer pots. Beer cover lids were made from grass and ilala palm fibers. A major aesthetic revolution occurred when small, brightly colored glass beads were introduced by early European traders and missionaries. Inevitably these beads found their way onto the traditional izimbenge. The lids protected this sacred substance from dust.

In time, telephone wire replaced the ilala palm. Until the introduction of the core of mild steel wire, small bundles of grass continued to be used as the coil as they had in the past.

Click the thumbs to view beaded, wired and cotton fiber imbenges.

artefact Ken Karner vintage artifacts artifact antique artefacts african beer pot artifact wire basket, beer cover lids vintage pottery imbenge baskets pot cover imbenge plates vessel

Telephone Wired Plates - Baskets

The use of wire in Southern Africa

Wire work in Africa can be traced back over a millennium. From the early 19th century, larger use of copper and iron wire work appeared on knobkerries and snuff bottles, as a result of trade with Europeans. During the 20th century, Zulu night watchmen in urban areas wove scraps of brightly coloured telephone wire around their traditional sticks called "amawisa". These objects soon became more intricate in design. The technique was also applied to making beer pot covers called "izimbenge", which were traditionally woven only from grass or palm fibre. This art form was taken further during the 1970's by Elliot Mkhize, who coiled telephone wire around a galvanised core. His innovation led to far larger baskets or plates, which are what Galerie Ezakwantu offers today.

Telephone Wire Plates / Galerie Ezakwantu's Display

Our Contemporary telephone wire-weaved wired plates are made by weavers from the Siyanda informal settlement in Durban. Support in design and continued skills development has led to international acclaim and a thriving community of hundreds of weavers earning a sustainable income.

Unlike Western traditions, designs are never pre-conceptualised, but evolve as the work progresses and dependant on the material at hand, making each piece unique.

Ba Roka Grain Storage Wired Baskets

The Ba Roka are one of a number of North Sotho tribes, often misattributed as Pedi. Independently and far from Zululand, the Baroka created wired plates which were predominately used to hold corn flour. Though covered in telephone wire, their core was made of grass fiber.

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Telephone wire allowed for bright colours, much like those chosen for their beaded aprons.

Beadwork - A World Guide

An example of a Ba Roka girls initiation apron appears on the African cover page of "Beadwork - A World Guide" by Caroline Crabtree and Pam Stallebrass (pg 29). Pam Stallebrass located the item in storage at the South African Museum in Cape Town. In all likelihood, this was collected by E. Jensen Krige and J. D. Krige in the 1940's.

Follow this link to learn more about the Ba Roka....

Follow this link to view Zulu beer pots...

Complements of...

Galerie Ezakwantu

World leaders in ascetically pleasing, authentic tribal art from Southern Africa.

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