Dogon Ceramic Vessel, Mali

A round pot with a smoky bruise across its middle.

Dogon potters of Mali, West Africa, made this vessel in terra cotta in the 20th century. Round-bodied clay pots like it are commonly used across the Sahel to carry and store water or grain. The shoulders are wide and the mouth small, with a raised reddish band circling the belly and fine stamped texture above and below. Blotches of gray and soft pink show where the firing touched the clay unevenly.

About twelve inches tall and fourteen wide. Earth, fire and a bit of weather.