Tuareg Circular Lidded Leather Box

Black drum of a box with a lid that fits like a hat.

This circular lidded leather and wood box is Tuareg, from West or North Africa, and is contemporary. The Tuareg are a Berber-speaking people of the Sahara and Sahel, and their leatherwork is traditionally made by specialist artisans who also work in metal and wood. Short round box covered in dark, grained covering with a fine pebbled grain. The lid is slightly domed and sits snugly over the body, with a thin seam where the two meet. The sides are plain, glossy at the shoulders and worn at the edges. It is 2.5 inches high and 4.25 in diameter.

Sober and round, like a banker's top hat in miniature.