Bottle c. 20th century

This bottle was made by the Pokot people. The way it's decorated, with this winding metal and a few bright beads, it feels very alive. I love the texture of the gourd itself, it's like skin. The artist has accepted the uneven surface of this object and then adorned it. The metalwork has a casual air, like a doodle. It reminds me that anything can be art material, even an old gourd! And the line of beads, from red to blue to black, is like a little painting in itself. Overall, the object reminds me of a painting by Elizabeth Murray. Murray was great at assembling disparate, everyday objects into a new kind of whole. This bottle does that too. It's a conversation between the natural and the human, between the useful and the beautiful. It reminds us that art is all about seeing the world in a new way.