This container was once filled with black gunpowder. Guns and gunpowder were important
European trade goods in Africa. African rulers, commissioned
artists to make beautiful containers for the precious gunpowder
that would be used to expand their territory and maintain their
status as leaders.
The holes were for fiber carrying cords. As
they did in all their utilitarian objects, they gave care to the
design & to the decoration of wood bottles used for gunpowder.
Height: 5 1/4" Diameter: 3 3/4"