Notes

Tutene Pata was born in Karumute, Angola and came to Etsha with a large group of refugees fleeing the war in 1969. Pata’s mother taught her how to make baskets. ‘My mother used to show me all the ways of making crafts. She said to me, “When I die, you must take over and continue our art.” She explained, “We make baskets as a remembrance even if we are selling them.”

This basket design depicts the shape of the pot ‘Tundimbe’, which is the Thimbukushu name for the traditional clay pot used for brewing beer. In comparison, Yei weavers call this design ‘Knees of the Tortoise’. The exquisite and precise creation of this classic design by Tutene Pata is no longer seen today. The coiling technique uses close, simple over-sewing over one coil, with bundles of grass for the core. The dark brown colour is obtained when the palm leaves are boiled together with the bark of the Euclea divinorum tree roots. The red-brown colour is created by boiling the palm leaves in a dye bath with the Berchemia discolor tree bark. Progressively lighter shades are made by putting new palm leaves into the same dye bath a second and third time.

- Dr Elizabeth Terry

Provenance

Dr Elizabeth Terry Collection.