Ethiopian Round Milk Jug with String Tied Leather Top

A glossy, plump pouch of dark skin bound with strips, topped by a pointed neck.

This round wooden milk jug with string-tied leather top is from Ethiopia, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is wood, hemp & leather. In the Horn of Africa, pastoral and farming communities have long used carved wooden vessels for milk, and some are cleaned and smoked to flavor the contents. A rounded, egg-like body in smooth dark brown to black, bound with strips laced across the front and shoulder. A narrower, tapering neck rises at the top, wrapped with cord. It is 9.5 inches high and 5 in diameter.

Neatly tied, thoroughly weathered, and still in service.