Mambilla medicine pot

Among the Mambila people who live in both Cameroon and Nigeria, West Africa, the medicine man is considered a magician capable of manipulating the vital force found in people, animals, trees, plants and inanimate objects for the overall purpose of good – and good fortune. Consequently, the medicine man is a figure of authority serving as diviner, prophet, healer and counselor, an advisor in the physical, psychological, spiritual, moral and legal aspects of life.

Featured is one of the most important tools of the Mambila medicine man, an elaborate, figurative earthenware vessel used to make potions from herbs and other ingredients. Although this is a rare object, the subject of African pottery is well known. All over the continent, female potters are called upon to create objects for special purposes or important ceremonies, and all over the world these pots are sought after and collected.

The sweet “monkey face” of this pot evokes surprise and concern, emotions felt by patients and doctors regardless of time, place, or the type of medicine being practiced. We may not know what this particular pot contained, but we do know it was dispensed with the belief that whatever issue it addressed would be resolved in the most positive manner possible.

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