Manioc flour mill

NameFigure scene

Maker Elías Vitalino

DateLate 1990s - early 2000s

Place madeAlto do Moura, Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil, South America

MediumCeramic, metal, stain, cotton string, paint

Dimensions3 3/8 × 6 11/16 × 4 15/16 in. (8.5 × 17 × 12.5 cm)

Credit LineGift of Antonio C. La Pastina and Dale A. Rice

Object numberA.2013.30.12

DescriptionBrown stained scene on a rectangular (octagonal) base depicts workers and machines in a manioc flour mill. The scene includes vignettes of two women picking manioc tubers and another woman feeding tubers into a machine turned by two men at a crank wheel. A man scrapes flour into a round container, another man operates a separate machine, and a woman sifts flour into a large tray. White cotton string simulates the chains which would operate the crank and another machine. Several tools have metal handles. Eyes are painted on with white and black paint dots.