Bamileke Terra Cotta Vessel

Palm wine, water, grain. The household kept them all in clay.

This generous terra cotta vessel was made by Bamileke potters in the grasslands of Cameroon in the 20th century. Fired clay vessels of this kind served for storing water, grain and palm wine, and finer examples were kept for hospitality and ceremony. Eighteen inches tall, it has a full, rounded body covered in a fine rouletted texture and a raised ridge at the shoulder. A wide flaring rim is held aloft by an openwork ring of triangular struts, a zigzag around the neck.

The surface has darkened to a deep smoky brown, with soft wear across the belly and rim.

A pot with a crown.