Zanzibar Woman with Brass Water Ewer

Oil on Canvas
86.8 x 61cm (excl. frame)
106.5 x 71.5 x 5.8cm (incl. frame)
Signed: “Irma Stern” (Lower/Right)
Dated: 1939

Illustrated & Referenced:     Graham’s Fine Art Gallery. 2007. Birth of the Modernist Body. Graham’s Fine Art Gallery, Johannesburg. p. 54 & 55.

Irma Stern visited the island of Zanzibar on numerous occasions, first in 1939 and again in 1945, and published a book, Zanzibar, in 1948.  This portrait, Zanzibar Woman with a Brass Water Ewer, is one of many depictions of the islanders, which include Arab priests, courtiers and stall-holders in the market place and fishermen.

The portrait reminds one of the quintessential, iconic Stern painting The Eternal Child, executed in semi-Expressionistic style.  What is striking about the water ewer portrait, however, is that Stern’s style has evolved into a more mature one, known as her “golden period”.

The most noticeable elements are the rich yellow colour of the girl’s sari, her emaciated limbs and the special wooden carving in which the picture is framed.  These carvings are imbued with symbolic meaning.  Originally, they were used as doorposts, with talismanic motifs to stave off evil spirits on the island.

What is, however, more important, is the symbolism of the brass water ewer.  On the one hand, it articulates the girl’s lowly position in the socio-economic hierarchy on the island and, on the other, the wealth of the household.  In The Eternal Child, the flowers in the girl’s hands symbolize her innocence; in this painting, the ewer symbolizes subservience.

Added to this, Stern has been described as having an affinity with the emotional state of her sitters and she therefore depicts the emotional furtiveness of the girl in this portrait, in which the exploitation of women in a patriarchal society, is questioned.