Saucer (Mursi Tribe)

Product Description

Ethiopian tribe of Mursi is probably the most well-known and recognizable wild tribe in the world.  It is women of Mursi who insert huge ceramic round plates  into their lower lips and ears. Today, within the tribe it is considered beautiful (while the other tribes of Southern Ethiopia are silently wondering), but the roots of this custom lie in the events that happened many and many years ago. It turns out that Mursi were trying to protect themselves from invaders and to prevent the abduction of women of the tribe by frightening the enemy and mutilating their women, once a valuable commodity in the slave markets.

This ceramic saucer is from a Mursi village in the Mago National Park in Ethiopia, where the tribe lives. Of course, one should not insert it into one’s lip, but it can be used as a stand for a coffee cup, a candle or jewelry.