Tikar Ceremonial Wine Vessel

Two figures on the shoulders, holding up the rim between them.

This ceremonial wine vessel is Tikar, from Cameroon, and dates to the 20th century. It is terra cotta. Tikar chiefs and elders in the Cameroon Grassfields served palm wine from such vessels at gatherings and ceremonies, where sharing a drink affirmed rank and alliance. Two seated figures straddle the shoulders of a wide round pot, their arms raised to the rim and their legs draped down the sides. Round eyes and broad faces look out, and the dark surface goes pale on the high points. Twenty-eight inches high and twenty in diameter.

Somebody has to hold it up. They appear content.