Meat platter – Ugqoko – Wood – Zulu – South Africa

Old wooden “Ugqoko“ meat platter from the Zulu peopleo of Sout Africa. The meat tray was carved to be functional, but decorative at the same time. The styles & sizes of meat platters vary. Generally they consist of 1 large rectangular bowl with rounded corners flanked on each end by handles.  The platters are often times placed upside down over another platter to act as a cover.
The platters were routinely smeared with the fat of ritually slaughtered animals which has been associated with the idea of ancestral protection.

Provenance: former private Italian collection.