Djenne Ceramic Fetish Vessel

Four round studs march down the front, like buttons on a tidy coat.

This fetish vessel is Djenne, from the Sanga area of Mali, West Africa, and dates to the 16th to 18th century. It is terra cotta. Pottery from the inland Niger Delta region of Mali is often linked to ritual and protective use, though specific meanings are seldom recorded. The body is an ovoid flask, flattened slightly and capped with a short knobbed neck and a collar. Small raised bosses run in a line down the front, a single hole pierces the shoulder, and the whole surface is textured with fine stippling. It is 9 inches high and 6 in diameter.

Buttoned up, and keeping its own counsel.