Djenne Long-Necked Vessel

A narrow neck is good for pouring and better for restraint.

This long-necked Djenne bottle comes from Mali’s Inland Niger Delta, made between the 12th and 17th centuries. Bottles of this kind, narrow-necked and suited to holding and pouring liquids, are among the most elegant shapes in the Djenne repertoire. A tall cylindrical neck with a single incised ring opens to a slightly flared lip, above a broad, almost perfectly round body. Deep red slip covers the upper half and fades into buff and gray, where smoky fire-clouding marks the firing.

Fourteen inches tall, nine across. Classical calm, in clay.