Vessel (Akarum)

Decorated with beads and cowrie shells, the leather straps attached to this wooden vessel were used to carry it over the shoulder or hang it inside or outside the house. Among the Turkana, as among many other nomadic herders in eastern Africa, such containers were used to collect and transport milk from cattle, goats, sheep, camels, or donkeys. Although vessels of this general shape are also used by the neighboring Rendille, the red-and-black design indicates that this example has Turkana origins. Its fitted cap doubles as a drinking cup.