Nupe Ceramic Storage Vessel

Every inch got a mark. The maker was in no hurry.

This Nupe storage vessel comes from Nigeria in West Africa and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is incised and painted terra cotta. Among the Nupe, pottery was largely women's work, and big jars like this kept water, grain and other household stores. The round belly rises from a small foot. Pale painted bands, dots and swags run over rust-colored clay, and a panel of lattice sits among vertical stripes at the widest point. Two small lugs ride the shoulder. Twenty and a half inches high.

Water has seldom been so well dressed.