Dogon Ceramic Vessel, Mali

Round as a harvest moon, and nearly as warm.

This large vessel was made by Dogon potters of Mali, West Africa, in terra cotta in the 20th century. Pots of this globe shape are commonly used to hold water, grain or brew in Sahelian households. The body swells to a full sphere under a short, flared neck. The surface is a mottled brown to brick red, burnished in places and dusty in others, with a thin dark crack or mark low on the belly that gives it character.

About 15 inches high. It fills a corner without needing a single flower.