Ceremonial basket adorned with cowrie shells

Date: 2015

Created by: Unidentified

Caption: This cowrie shell basket was created by artisans in Mossuril, Mozambique, in 2015 to hold soil from the region, which was then deposited at the site of the São José shipwreck. After a solemn ceremony on May 30, 2015, the village and tribal elder in Mossuril, Evano Nhogache, entrusted this basket to Lonnie Bunch, instructing him to place the enclosed soil as close to the wreck site as possible to symbolically reconnect those Mozambicans who were lost with their homeland. He then asked that the basket become part of the collections of the NMAAHC. On June 2, 2015, at a second memorial in Clifton, the soil was poured into the ocean near the wreck site. The slave ship São José Paquete Africa sank on December 3, 1794 off the coast of South Africa. It had left Mozambique 24 days prior bound for Maranhão, Brazil.
Description: A basket created by artisans in Mossuril, Mozambique for ceremonial transport of soil from Mozambique to the site of the São José shipwreck in Cape Town, South Africa. The round basket is in two parts, a base and lid, and is made from worked plant material. Cowrie shells placed closely together adorn and cover the outside of both the top and bottom of basket.

Place made: Mossuril, Nampula, Mozambique, Africa
Place used: Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa

Topic: African American; Africa; Craftsmanship; Design; Folklife; Middle Passage; Ornamentation; Trans Atlantic slave trade

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design; Sacred and Ceremonial Objects

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2016.168ab

Type: baskets

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions; Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Medium: fiber and cowrie shell
Dimensions: H x W x D: 5 5/8 × 6 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (14.3 × 16.5 × 16.5 cm)

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