Mangbetu Ceramic Figurative Vessel

An elongated head sweeps back from a round belly, every inch of it pricked with dots.

This figurative vessel is Mangbetu, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa, dates to the 20th century, and is terra cotta. Mangbetu potters became known in the early colonial period for jars topped with heads showing the elongated skull and fanned coiffure admired in their court culture. Here the face has narrow eyes, a broad nose and full lips, beneath a tall, backswept head that opens as the spout. Rows of punched dots and incised arcs cover the head and body. The jar stands on a scalloped foot. It is 11 inches high and 5 in diameter.

Elegance, it turns out, can be poured.