Tutsi Rattan Ceremonial Calabash

Nearly black, with a few lighter streaks like fingerprints.

Tutsi makers of Rwanda, East Africa, created this ceremonial calabash in gourd and rattan in the early 20th century. Gourds such as this are commonly connected with milk and hospitality, and were prized for their shapely forms. The body is a rich chocolate brown, deep and mirror-bright, with faint paler streaking on the lower half. A long, thin neck rises to a flaring woven lid in pale rattan. The shape is full at the base and smoothly tapered above.

About 9 inches tall. It deepens any pale shelf it joins.