Bobo Ceramic Vessel, Burkina Faso

A round pot that has clearly carried its share of weather.

Bobo potters of Burkina Faso, West Africa, made this terra cotta vessel in the 20th century. Large handmade jars in the region have commonly served for storing and carrying water and grain. The body is a near-perfect sphere with a short, uneven neck, and two bands of fine incised cross-hatching circle the shoulder. The surface is a smoky gray-brown, softly worn, with small pale scars where the clay has rubbed through.

About eighteen inches high and twenty wide. Plant it, fill it with branches, or leave it as a boulder.