Cameroonian Terra Cotta Vessel

Open bonfires, bare hands, and a rim pierced all the way around.

This terra cotta vessel was made in Cameroon in the 20th century. Throughout the region pottery was shaped by hand and fired in open fires, and vessels served for storing and serving food and water, with more elaborate examples often kept for special occasions. The body is round and deep, the thick rim pierced with large round openings, the surface textured with tiny impressed dots. Below the neck, an applied rope-like coil winds in a wave between two raised bands. The lower body is smooth and darker, the interior soft ash gray.

Fifteen inches across, thirteen and a half high. Open-hearted, in its way.