Altar Vessel

Arts of Africa

Early/mid–20th century

Gur-speaking peoples, possibly Lobi
Burkina Faso
Northern Africa and the Sahel

Across the Gur-speaking region, individuals and families establish altars to honor and commune with influential spirits. Making altar vessels is the work of highly accomplished potters. The spikes on these vessels reflect a practice that is found across West Africa. Among the Lobi, such spikes symbolize fertility, fecundity, and protection. On this vessel, a chameleon, a symbol of wealth, stands squarely on the lid used to protect the powerful substances within from natural and supernatural contamination. [See also 2005.235].

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Gur
Title: Altar Vessel
Place: Burkina Faso (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1900–1975
Medium: Terracotta
Dimensions: 43.2 × 38.1 cm (17 × 15 in.)
Credit Line: Arnold Crane Fund; Irving Dobkin Endowment; through prior acquisitions of Katharine Kuh
Reference Number: 1998.520

Kathleen Bickford Berzock, For Hearth and Altar: African Ceramics from the Keith Achepohl Collection (The Art Institute and Yale University Press, 2005), pp. 72-73.

Art Institute of Chicago, For Hearth and Altar: African Ceramics from the Keith Achepohl Collection, Dec. 3, 2005–Feb. 20, 2006, cat. 30.

Gilbert Ouadrago, Burkina Faso, by 1998; sold to Douglas Dawson Gallery, Chicago, Ill., 1998; sold to the Art Institute, 1998.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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