Container - calabash

Samburu – Kenya
Milk container from a pastoral recipient
Calabash, fibers and organic materials
Height: 33 cm
20th century

Fine ethnographic object that has preserved a strong functional patina, testimony to prolonged use within a pastoral society of East Africa.

Old condition with wear, deposits, desiccation and alterations of organic materials consistent with the age and use of the object. No cleaning of the patina has been performed.

The calabash is reinforced by a remarkable system of fiber straps, designed to protect the vessel and enable its transport. This type of container belonged to the pastoral culture of the Samburu and was used to preserve and work milk, notably after smoking the inside of the container.

The exemplar presents an exceptional usage patina, very dark, greasy and lustrous, with reddish-brown tones appearing under the surface layers. The interior is deeply blackened, a characteristic compatible with traditional smoking practices of dairy vessels. The hide elements also show significant antiquity and deposits related to usage.

A Samburu vessel of very similar design is documented in the collections of the National Museums of Kenya, where it is identified as Samburu milk container: calabash with a narrow neck reinforced by leather bands, dried and then smoked on the inside before its use for milk.