Hands and Bodies, Unsigned Studio Pottery Vessel felted wool " with carefully drawn squares

" with carefully drawn squares next to them for checking

with some aging to the surface as pictured and a bit of bending to the tab on one side at the very bottom

from the Democratic Republic of Congo

My photos are not great but It should be noted that this 1859 graphite drawing is a bit faint--and so it is one that very much rewards close looking

and love how the instinct to decorate through carving manifests in/on objects from most every culture

Hands and Bodies, Unsigned Studio Pottery Vessel felted wool " with carefully drawn squaresI'm thinking this vessel likely once had a lid, which perhaps also functioned like a small tumbler the tapering of the top and undecorated area on one side seems to suggest that. But I have a feeling it's better this way anyway just a pure field of hands and silhouetted bodies interrupting each other in a sort of endless dance of stop and go (or Mother May I?) The only punctuation are two unpainted hands in low relief 3 4 of the way down either side;