The Mangbetu people migrated from modern-day Sudan to north-east Zaire in the nineteenth century. This pot is an example of the so-called palm wine vessel, arguably the best internationally known Mangbetu art-form. Anthropomorphic vessels were produced for a relatively short period, flourishing between the 1890s and 1920s. Their most distinctive feature is the elongated skull reflecting the contemporary practice of binding the heads of infants with raffia. The majority of the vessels seem to depict women, confirmed in this case by the small pointed breasts and the fan-shaped coiffure. Despite the looped handle the design of the vessel is impractical for pouring and it is likely that it served a primarily ceremonial purpose. Certainly such wares were beyond the means of the majority of the population and were confined to elite courtly circles who had both the wealth and the need for ostentatious display.

The style of the face and incised decoration on this example is particularly distinctive. It is reminiscent of wares produced around the town of Medje in southern Mangbetu. The half-circles composed of horizontal and vertical lines on the rounded part of the vessel is a design also found on Meje water jars. The face is also flatter and more abstract than the examples collected by Herbert Lang in Niangara in the northern Mangbetu region. The rounded part rests on circular base incised with a zigzag motif. The contrast between the alternatively rough and smooth surface of the terracotta is striking, as is the quiet but majestic splendour of the expression.