Dorze Calabash or Vessel, Ethiopia

Glossy double bulb with an engraved neck and a loop of wire at the waist.

This incised and painted gourd calabash from the Dorze people is Dorze, from Ethiopia, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Decoration on gourds is usually done by incising the hard outer rind with a blade or by adding pigment, and the patterns are often geometric. Displayed is a rounded two part vessel with a smaller upper bulb finely engraved in bands and tiny dots, over a large, deep red brown lower bulb. A thin wire circles the waist. The surface is smooth and mottled. It is 10.5 inches high and 6.5 in diameter.

Plump below, finely dressed on top.