Gurage Mukecha or Coffee Grinding Vessel

Short, rounded, and mahogany, with a narrow silvery ring at the foot.

This mukecha or coffee grinding vessel is Gurage, from Ethiopia, East Africa, and dates to the 19th century. It is wood. Wooden mortars are a common tool across the Horn of Africa, generally hollowed from a single block and used with a pestle to pound grain, spices or coffee. Stubby cylindrical vessel in deep red-brown with a smooth, polished surface. A thin, pale ridge circles the lower body, and the wide hole at the top shows a darker interior. Light scratches mark the sides. It is 7 inches wide, 7 deep and 7 high.

Compact and glowing, hardly a mark out of place.