A recycled beer pot cover.

Although this woven structure makes an excellent fruit basket that was not its original function. It is in fact an Imbenge, a Zulu beer pot cover from South Africa. Traditionally the Zulu peoples made imbenge to close their earthenware Ukamba (neck-less) beer pots to protect the fermenting sorghum beer from dust and flies. You can see a beer pot with its cover in place here.

The lids were originally made by weaving grass and Ilala palm fibre. When small, brightly coloured glass beads were introduced, by European traders and missionaries, they soon found their way onto the traditional imbenge. In time, old telephone wires was also used and in some cases replaced the natural fibres, as is the case of the pot cover in my photograph.

Zoomify to appreciate the skilled weaving.