The container comes from Ethiopia and may have belonged to the Somali, Borana or Gabra peoples.
Being decorated so highly it is possible this particular container would have been made and gifted at a special ceremony such as a wedding.
Ethiopian pastoral peoples have a variety of water tight containers, and this one is beautifully decorated with cowrie shells and red beads. The rim of the gourd top is woven as a lid to the incised wood base.
Height: 17 ¾" x Diameter: 7:
