28 Incredible Containers Used by Kenyan Communities

What is a container?

Containers are one of the five items classified as critical in conveying material culture. The other classifications are tools, ornaments, body carvings and furniture. Kenyan communities developed containers to satisfy the need to cook, carry and store things. Container designs, shapes and materials reflect the many ways in which the different Kenyan communities kept, carried and stored things. This exhibit takes you through various traditional containers used by Kenyan communities.

Design and function

The shapes of containers were determined by what they stored and the materials used to make them. Materials used included vegetal plant material, wood, leather/skin, clay/ceramic, metals, and a mixture of different materials.

Some of the items that would have been stored in these containers included milk, water, honey, meat and also snuff.

Containers were also used for religious functions, divination and ceremonial functions.

1: Luyia narrow-necked pots for storing water

This pot isiongo was made by Luyia women and used to store cold water for household use.

Clay containers were best known for water storage. Water pots were made impervious so that the water inside was kept cool due to evaporation on the outside wall of the pot.

2: Luo wide-mouthed round pots for cooking fish

This is a bowl shaped clay pot (oigla) with four lugs. It was made by a woman potter and used for cooking fish.

Pots were made with a wide mouth to allow fish to be cooked in one piece or in large pieces.

3: Pokot pot for brewing beer

This is a clay pot known by the Pokot as Loch. It has a narrow neck and spout, and was used for making beer. The small hole was used as a spout for pouring the beer out of, while the materials used for brewing beer were placed inside the large hole. Beer pots do not have handles because beer was never served hot. This type of pot was common among the Kipsigis, the Nandi and the Pokot communities.

4: Samburu storage pot

This is a small jar (moti lengweshi) with a tall neck. It was made by the Ogiek and Samburu for storing meat and fat for the dry season, when food was scarce. These pots were never made with handles.

5: Somali baskets weaved using roots of a tree

This is a large water container (han). It was made by Somali women from the roots of the bararh tree, which they considered the best fiber for making such baskets. The roots were boiled before they were weaved into a basket. The basket was made watertight by repeatedly smoking it with burning wood of the korasum tree. The gummy smoke produced would entirely seal the inside of the container while it was wet.

6: Borana water container made from roots

This water container (okolle) was made using fiber obtained from the roots of the miyaa tree and used for collecting and storing water. It was never dipped in water, but would have been filled using a different container to preserve it.

7: Coastal containers made from coconut stems

This container with a stand was made from the stems and reeds of the palm tree. It was used by women living in coastal areas to store and carry food.

8: Marakwet winnowing basket

This is a winnowing basket made from reeds. It was used by women for clearing chaff from cereals and for drying.

9: The Mbeere kiondo

This twined basket (kiondo) was made from fibre. The fibre was cut and boiled before being twined by women to make string. The strings were then woven and used to carry items.

10: Luo granary

This is a granary (Dero) used to store different kinds of grains. The conical roof was made using millet stocks and then thatched with grass. The base of the granary was made by continuous twisting of the soft twigs, and held by crossed branches.

Luo grain stores were either made from wickerwork or papyrus reeds, and the insides were plastered with cow dung. A short ladder from a forked branch would be placed against the body of the granary for access.

Such granaries are fast disappearing from modern Luo homesteads.

11: Borana wooden container

This milk container was made from wood and partly woven by women. It was curved using an adze, has a lid decorated with cowrie shells, and leather strap for ease when carrying. It was used by Borana women to carry milk and water.

12: Somali pot

This pot was made of wood from the damaja (Commiphora candidula sprague) tree and fiber straps obtained from the kharari tree. The tree was cut using an axe and adze, and the decorative part was carved using a knife. It was used by women to store fresh milk for their children.

13: Turkana milk container

This milk container (elepit) is made of wood from edwaite tree and animal hide for the straps. The decorative dots design is made using a heated rod metal. It is used for milking animals.

14: Maasai milk and blood gourd

This small short gourd (ekukuri) was used to collect blood from slaughtered cows, or milk when milking. It was smoked out with wood called Oloirien.

15: Marakwet gourd

This gourd was cut at the top and had the seeds removed. It was used to carry drinking water.

16: Akamba porridge gourd

This large gourd (kikuu) was decorated using smoke dye. It was made using the fruit of a plant, which has been harvested and dried. The head was cut and the seeds inside removed. It was used for carrying porridge.

17: Marakwet calabashes

These calabashes (Mongwo) were made from gourds cut in half. The contents were removed and ashes put in them, before leaving them in the sun for six days. After that the ashes were removed and the calabash cleaned. They were used by the Marakwet to drink milk from, or for holding grains, flour or food.

18: Calabash for decorating the house

This calabash (nzele) is decorated with various colors. It was used for serving porridge to the elders and as a decoration in the house.

19: Muthambi beer drinking horn

This drinking horn (rugoji) was cut from a cow by a craftsman, using a knife, after the cow had been slaughtered. It was used by old Muthambi men for drinking local beer.

20: Pokot fat horn

This cow horn (lal) with a hide lid was used to store fat. The fat may also have been mixed with okup (black colouring), which was used to polish ornaments.

21: Horns as snuff containers by the Tharaka community

This snuff container (kinyuiro) is made of a bushbuck horn, and the lid from animal skin. It contains a small brush inside, which was used to apply snuff to the nostrils. It was made and used by men only. Old Tharaka men carried them around on their belts.

22: Kikuyu marriage cup

This drinking cup was made from a cow horn (rohia), wood and an iron handle, and symbolizes respect among the Kikuyu. A young man seeking a girl's hand in marriage from her father would usually be served porridge from this cup upon arrival.

23: Turkana meat containers

This wooden container was used to store meat. The wood was cut and carved into a container with an outlet at the top. It was then smoothed, and skin added to the lower part and around the neck. A leather lid was made and a skin strap woven to act as a handle for the container.

24: Samburu milk container

This is a narrow necked milk gourd, with leather thongs and a wooden cork on top as a lid. It was cut from a creeping plant, then put in the hot sunshine for several days to dry.

The mouth was then cut and the substance inside it removed using a stick. It was cleaned out with water and finally fumigated or smoked inside. It was used for churning milk.

25: Camel hide containers for storing butter among the Turkana

This large container (ngatuma) was made from camel hide by Turkana women, and used for storing butter.

26: Marakwet honey containers

This hide container was made from buffalo skins. Buffalo hides were trimmed and stitched at the edges with buffalo tendon by piercing the holes with a strong awl.

While leather containers were usually made and used by men, for collecting honey from the forest, wooden containers were typically used for storage.

27: Swahili kettle made using Indian design

This kettle was made from copper, with Indian design decorations, and used by the Swahili for serving tea.

28: Marakwet tea pot

This is an old metal kettle (kibirika), which was used as a tea container and also as storage for small items.