Longuda Terra Cotta Figurative Vessel

A Nigerian potter, a lump of clay, and a straight face that did not last.

Potters there have long joined the useful and the sculptural, making pieces for household use, shrines and display. This one, 20th century, swells from a round body into a seated form with bent limbs studded with knobs. A long neck rises to an animated head whose open mouth forms the spout, crowned by a serrated crest. Two round openings pierce the belly. Concentric incised lines, raised bosses and dense punched dots cover the gray-brown clay. Fifteen and a half inches.

A vessel with a personality. Slightly whimsical. Entirely deliberate.