Handsome Ceramic Vessel

The precise origins and age of this handsome vessel are not known. It was owned for many years by the collector Joseph Knopfelmacher who had extensive holdings of Niger Valley terracottas, mostly from the Inner Niger Delta downstream to the Nigerian frontier. The object’s general form and condition suggest that is at least two centuries old and that it was formed by the tamper and anvil technique, topped off with coiling to create the vessel’s mouth. Below its hip the pot bears a rouletted texture often found in utilitarian vessels of the region, even very early examples. I vividly recall coming across sherds of pottery, some surprisingly large, with this very texture south of Tamanrasset in the Algerian Sahara. Although these pieces would have to have dated to the end of the African humid period some 5,000 years ago, Saharan peoples would have had to have migrated either north or south to survive, carrying their technical expertise with them. $800

7″

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