The Kabyles are a Berber people who live in Northern Algeria. For more than 200 years Kabyle women have made earthenware objects from locally-dug clay. Kabyle pottery was traditionally made for domestic purposes such as preparing and serving food, storing water and providing light, and for ritual occasions such as births and weddings. Today its purpose is largely decorative and other materials such as plastic, metal and china are used to serve its original practical functions.

This vessel was purchased by the V&A in 1894 from Benjamin Joseph Bucknall, a British architect living in Algiers who died the following year. At the time of its acquisition the vessel was described as having been 'made by women of the Beni Jenni tribe, Kabylia'. Its construction and design are typical. The clay was then shaped by hand using the thumb and coiling methods. The vessel then was decorated with coloured oxides and slips before being fired.