Urn with Stopper c. 20th century

This is an urn with a stopper, probably made from terracotta by Solongo or Mboma. I imagine this work coming into being slowly, shifting, emerging, and building through touch, trial, error, and intuition. It speaks to the intimacy of its making, and feels deeply personal. I'm looking at the repeated patterns etched into its surface. I am thinking about the amount of time spent on carving these motifs in the raw clay. What was going through the artist's mind as they methodically made each mark, round after round, slowly building this vessel by hand? The marks are irregular, but that’s what gives the whole piece its rhythm. It seems to me that there's some kind of dialogue going on here between utility, design and art. Like an idea being worked out in form. And that to me is really interesting. It makes you wonder, who were they, and what else did they make? It reminds me of other ceramic artists in other parts of the world, all in dialogue across time.