Lidded Vessel

South Africa or Kingdom of Swaziland, Southern Africa. North Nguni, 19th century. Wood, height 2-413⁄16″ (63 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art. Purchase, Anonymous Gift, Richard, Ann, John, and James Solomon Families Foundation, Adam Lindemann and Amalia Dayan, and Herbert and Lenore Schorr Gifts, Rogers Fund, and funds from various donors.

Once African artists learned that their European patrons had no interest in using an object in its proper ritualistic manner, they modified objects to be more decorative. The Lidded Vessel is covered with grooves specifically for aesthetic and tactile appeal rather than function.