Baganda Milk Jug with Native Repair

Hand-hammered silver at the throat of a very dark gourd of a vessel.

Baganda makers of Uganda, East Africa, shaped this wooden milk vessel in the 20th century, and a later hand repaired it in aluminum. Wooden milk containers are commonly made across East Africa’s cattle-keeping regions, and a mended one is often a well-used one. The tall, tapering body is a smooth chocolate brown. A scalloped collar of crimped aluminum wraps the lip, with a narrow slit still showing beside it. The wood has a soft sheen from handling.

About 16 inches tall. A tall, quiet bottle of a thing; it needs no flowers.