Although Mangbetu women create a wide range of pottery for the home, Mangbetu men began to create anthropomorphic pottery with stylized heads early in the 20th century. This “art pottery,” as anthropologist Herbert Lang dubbed it in 1914, was made for sale to Africans and Europeans who reached the area for trade. Women artists may have collaborated by creating the base of the vessel. The base of this particular pot is unusual, suggesting that it could have been commissioned as a display piece for a foreigner. The figure’s hairdress recreates an elaborate cane-supported hairstyle popular among Mangbetu women at the time.