Dogon Terra Cotta Vessel

Women shaped these by hand and fired them in the open. In Dogon villages, that is how the water got carried.

This large terra cotta vessel, made in Mali in the 20th century, served for water, grain and other necessities. The body is full and round, about twenty inches across, rising to a short neck with a thick rolled rim. Around the shoulder runs a band of fine roulette-impressed texture, crossed by darker radiating strokes in reddish-brown slip. A second textured band circles the widest point.

The warm orange clay is mottled with paler grayish patches from firing and use. A vessel to be set down firmly, and left there.