Old East African beaded drinking vessel The bones have a lovely

The bones have a lovely deep colour and patina that has been gained over the best part of a hundred years of use and handling

The exposed ventricles show the valves with associated muscles and even the chordae tendineae

These are long lived birds with a life span of over 55 years although many of the juvenile die in their first long migration

They are expert divers with diving depths of 180m being recorded in search of food

Old East African beaded drinking vessel The bones have a lovelyThis is an interesting item. It is an old beaded drinking vessel made from leather and wood. It looks to be East African, possible Maasai in origin and is certainly very old. The lower half of the vessel is wood with a wide band of leather very finely stitched onto the top. Looking from the inside, it appears that the stitching is so fine that it is waterproof. The whole thing has been painted with what looks to be red ochre with two black rectangles