Ethiopian Cylindrical Milk Jug with String Tied Leather Top

A lidded cylinder in tan and amber, with a fringe like a grass skirt.

This cylindrical milk jug with a string-tied leather top is from Ethiopia, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is wood, hemp & leather. Across Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, pastoral and farming households have long used carved wooden vessels for storing and carrying milk and other liquids. A shouldered container with a dark, snug cap and a smooth, glossy upper body. Fine scratched lines form a stepped, tower-like pattern on the front. The lower half is wrapped in a stitched, shaggy brown covering with a ragged fringe at the seam. It is 9 inches high and 5 in diameter.

Dressed for work, with a bit of flair at the hem.