The Mangbetu were originally settled in modern-day Sudan but migrated to north-east Zaire in the nineteenth century. Despite a long tradition of producing utilitarian terracotta wares, anthropomorphic versions were a relatively late and short-lived development. They reflect changing tastes in the early twentieth century and were often given as gifts between chieftains or to visiting Europeans. This example is unusual in so far as it has two figures moulded onto the body of the vessel. Instead of the conventional plain looped handle, a figure with a series of protruding triangles running down its back clings to the back of the vessel’s neck. A similar type of handle appears on a vessel collected by Herbert Lang in Niangara in 1910 during his famous trip to the Congo. It is now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. On the right side of the vessel another figure is moulded on in low relief with outstretched arms and legs. This may represent a child as it touches the breast of the female with its left arm. The vessel itself has two arms moulded onto the sides, one of which rests protectively on the child’s shoulder.

All the figures have elongated skulls reflecting the contemporary practice of binding infants’ heads with raffia. The spout of the vessel is formed out of the elaborate fan-shaped coiffure that was fashionable amongst elite women of Mangbetu society. Above all this vessel is remarkable for the variety of different surface textures and stippling techniques. For example, the lowest band around the base of the neck has been imprinted with a sizable circular tool. In contrast the sash or band that runs in a diagonal across the main part of the rounded section has been carefully incised with finer, less regular marks. The amount of care lavished on this vessel is probably indicative of the high status of its first owner.