Woyo Pot Lids

Abstract

Many cultures have used visual symbols to represent proverbs from their oral traditions and have incorporated these symbols into the decoration of objects for daily use. Woyo people of Cabinda took this representation of proverbs one step further, creating a pictographic language to convey their feelings about specific situations. medium was a wooden lid with motifs carved in relief, which covered a casserole when it was carried from the kitchen to the eating area. communication took place between husband and wife, or between parents and son or daughter, and the message usually concerned fundamental principles for a successful marriage. tradition was part of the nineteenth-century Woyo lifestyle; missionaries report that it had disappeared by the beginning of the twentieth century (Vaz 1969:28). Eleven pot lids belonging to Dr. and Mrs. Michael Samuels are on permanent display at the Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. They were acquired from Padre Joaquim Martins, who collected the pieces in Cabinda in the 1940s and 1950s. One piece (Fig. 1) from the Samuels collection was included in Sabedoria Cabinda: Simbolos e Prov rbios (1968: 482-84), written by Joaquim Martins. (According to Dr. Samuels, the author is not the same person as Padre Martins.) following is taken from Martins's interpretation of this lid, which bears five designs. Martins gives the proverb associated with each and a narrative reading of the message as a whole, a format I will follow in interpreting six other lids in the collection: 1. Central handle with one peak: This gravestone has only one peak. It marks the grave of a poor person, for a rich person's gravestone would have three peaks; 2. Ax with handle: An ax is used to being fitted with a handle, but not so a person-people must have freedom of choice; 3. Round Ntumpu-Mvemba fruit: The fruit Ntumpu, dedicated to the divine Mvemba, will answer one question for you if you are a good person. Mvemba is the guardian of the family and symbolic of family loyalty; 4. Pear-shaped Chiali-Mioko fruit, which resembles a pair of open hands: Open hands to the chiefs, the diviners and everyone-you must receive. fruit is a symbol of generosity; 5. Key: This is your key, which your ancestors left for you, signifying that one should receive and guard one's inheritance, be it large or small. lid contains premarital advice for either a son or daughter. According to Martins, the parental message as a whole reads, Even though the family has been poor, you will have peace and good harmony if you allow each other liberty, if you seek the protection of Mvemba and are true and loyal, and if you are generous to each other. In this way you will receive the true inheritance of your ancestors. One lid in the Samuels collection could have been presented either to a son contemplating bigamy or to a couple intending to marry in spite of parental disapproval (Fig. 2). It has two carved symbols. One is of two goats tied to a stake: Those who hitch two goats close to each other are to blame when the ropes get tangled (Vaz 1969:76-77); the other is the spiral shell Ta-nsosso: Air the disagreement, swallow the rage, and don't hold a grudge (Vaz 1969:64-65). shell is a visual pun linking the sound of its name, Ta-nsosso, and the sound of displeasure Cabindans make to insult those who offend them. central projection is simply a handle, without significance. In this example, the parents' advice is clear: We're offering this to express our disapproval. the marriage doesn't work out, you have only yourselves to blame. Another pot lid advises a son as to how a wife should be treated (Fig. 3). It has seven symbols: 1. Double bell (center) which belongs only to a chief; when it is struck, all must go to hear the chief's pronouncement (Vaz 1969:78); 2. Bird caught in a trap: 'I have caught you in my trap,' says the hunter. 'Only by the tail,' replies the bird (i.e., a wife can always leave her husband and return to her family if mistreated) (Vaz 1969:37); 3. Mouth: The mouth defends its owner (Martins 1968:257); 4. Grater for preparing manioc leaves: If you want to cook nsaka, first get your nkuimbi-nsaka (He who wishes to obtain 1. PREMARITAL ADVICE FOR A SON OR A DAUGHTER. DIAMETER 16cm.