Lobi Footed Storage Vessel

Grain, water, provisions: the Lobi household kept them all in clay.

This footed storage vessel, made in Burkina Faso in the 20th century, is twenty-nine inches tall and thirty-three across, a broad bowl on a flared pedestal foot. A thick rolled rim tops a band of reddish-brown slip, and below it the body is pale and finely textured.

Just under the rim, a small figure with outstretched arms and spread legs is modeled in relief. Potters sometimes added such figures. Weathering, scuffs and mineral bloom across the surface record long use.

A big pot with a small passenger.