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Zulu Beer Pots

The type of clay used to make Zulu beer pots is very important and is called IBUMBA. This clay is dug out of the ground and left to dry. The smaller IZINKAMBA (Zulu beer pot) are made of the dried fine clay but the bigger Zulu beer pots are mixed together with other clays to make them more solid. The clay is mixed with water to form a ball and the women work on the ground, using a ring of dried grass so that they can turn the pot as they work and as the pot grows in size. 

The base of the Zulu beer pot is a round solid disk of clay but the walls are made of long coils of clay, which the women roll and blend together to make the walls more or less an even thickness and beautifully smooth.

Once the Zulu beer pots are completed they are left to dry in the shade for about a week before they are fired. The women have their own traditional 'firing' methods - no sophisticated kilns for them - a hole is dug in the ground and various leaves, woods and dried cow dung are used to make the fire.

The many patterns and decorations on the Zulu beer pots are different according to each region and family and are usually situated just below the pots mouth and extend not too far below the widest curvature of the pot and this is so the pot can be gripped more easily when drinking from it. The raised patterns are much like the designs that the Zulu warriors used when decorating their bodies with scars, many years ago.

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