Clay Bulls

In the 1930s, anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard, studied the lives and traditions of the cattle-raising cultures in southeast Sudan. His description of children at play shows how important the cattle were to the people then.

“As soon as children can crawl they are brought into close intimacy with the flocks and herds. The kraal (corral) is their playground . . . The calves, sheep and goats are their companions in play and they pull them about and sprawl in the midst of them. The games of rather older children of both sexes centre round cattle. They build byres (cow sheds) of sand in camps and of moistened ashes or mud in villages, and fill the toy kraals (corrals) with fine mud cows and oxen, with which they play at herding and marriage. The first tasks of childhood concern cattle.”

While in Sudan, Evans-Pritchard collected a number of clay toys that children had modeled from clay and colored with natural pigments. Today they are in the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford in England.

The Didinga raise cattle to add milk, cheese, and occasionally meat to their diet. But cattle mean much more to the Didinga than a source of food. The Didinga are very proud of their cattle and that is reflected in all aspects of their lives. For example:

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Clay Bull

    • The Didinga language has many different words to describe the various colors of cattle hides.
    • Villagers sing herding songs to calm the cattle.
    • Bull horns are used as musical instruments.
    • The movements and costumes for traditional dances refer to cattle.
    • When a man wants to marry a woman, he gives her father cattle to gain his permission.
    • The size and health of a family’s herd represents their wealth, success, and God’s favor.
    • Before boys are old enough to take the herds out to graze, they are taught about cattle culture through play.

Continuing the Tradition

Like many Sudanese boys, Donato Raimondo was given a bull by his father when he was a child. The bull was the calf of a cow that belonged to his uncle. Donato's first understanding of cattle culture came from play - in the form of song, game, and the creation of clay bulls.

Clay bulls are made by hand in the same way that they have been for many years. The general shape is created by pinching wet clay and the details are created using sticks or small tools. Then the figurine is placed in the sun to harden. Once the sun has dried all the moisture from the figurine, it is placed into a bucket that is filled with sawdust or grass. The sawdust is lit on fire and the bucket is covered. This process of firing the clay is repeated until the desired hardness is achieved. Traditionally natural dyes would be used to color the bulls, but since moving to the US Donato uses commercial glazes for his bulls.

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Clay Bulls by Donato "Dominic" Raimondo, State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection, 2008

“I start with wet clay and use my hands to make the clay cow. After molding the clay cow, I use a tool to craft the small details. Then I let the clay cow sun-dry and then fire it on the kiln. Next, I glaze the cow with three layers of different colors. Finally, I fire it one last time. Now I have a beautiful piece of art that represents my culture.”

- Donato "Dominic" Raimondo