Jar (Wékéru)

The Baatonu (plural, Baatombu) homeland lies to the northwest of Oyo, the once powerful Yoruba empire, and the two regions share important economic and cultural ties. Today Baatombu and Yoruba often live side-by-side, and potters from the two groups may work in close proximity to each other, making pots that look very similar. The Baatonu and Oyo Yoruba also share similar pottery techniques, using a convex mold to form the base of a pot and then completing it with coils.
The deep reddish black coloring and banded embellishment—here accentuated by a roulette impressed pattern—are evocative of the artfully dyed and incised calabashes that are widely used by Baatombu for storing valued possessions and ritual objects. This jar may have served the same purpose, or it may have held water, grain, or ritual offerings.