Large calabash gourd vessel used for serving wine, the spherical body encased in finely woven raffia fiber basketry that forms a stabilizing ring base. The basketry rises along the sides in gently undulating patterns and incorporates a loop handle, with a fitted stopper in the narrow spout. Red-brown patina. Exc. cond. "This long-necked water gourd with a woven straw handle and case is from Cameroon, but also links to African-American history. African slaves brought the practice of conveying information through songs from their motherland. "Follow the Drinking Gourd," a popular black spiritual of the early nineteenth century, was a coded instruction by members of the Underground Railroad to slaves in Alabama and Mississippi to travel north by following the North Star, which they could locate in the sky by looking at the Big Dipper."- Incollect, web.18"H.

Provenance: NYC. collection, ex. Marc and Denyse Ginzberg, NY. Published in article, "Incollect", 2013.

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