Bambara Ceramic Wedding Vessel

Marriage is a long commitment. This pot has kept its side of it.

This Bambara wedding vessel comes from Mali in West Africa and dates to the 18th century or earlier. It is incised terra cotta. Among the Bambara, as across much of West Africa, pottery was largely women's work, and household vessels had a place in the goods and customs of marriage, though details vary by region. A tall flared neck rises from a round belly of rust-red clay. Rows of raised dots alternate with bands of herringbone texture, and a pale bloom rests on the surface. Twenty-two inches high.

It still stands straighter than most wedding guests.