African carved stone bowl with lid

[nathan104]

I came across this today at a local yardsale. Sorry this is the only picture I have. Its a carved bowl and the lid has a face on it. I didn't see any markings on the bottom or anything. It looks and feel like pourous stone but it in not very heavy. The 90 year old gentleman started talking and said that when he was younger he went to Africa, but he also said something about Burma, he was there doing some work at a diamond mine and he was digging in a diverted river and dug up the pot and also the lid a little ways away about 20' down. He also said he dug up the little red colored statue beside the bowl in the picture but I don't have a picture of it, though it kind of looks like a big head(its red pourous rock). He talked about buying and smuggling back diamonds, how he bought several parcels of land worth of tree for all the mahogany from a local tribe and all kinds of other stories. He said he wanted $100 for the African bowl. So, my question is, what do you think? IS this a tourist piece, something more, or you cant tell because of the one crappy picture I have?

 

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[old digger]

If those are cowery shells images that circle around the middle of the pot, then I would say that it would be from central Africa. As to being authentic, your probably going to have to make that judgement. Hard to tell. Wish you had better photos. If authentic the price may be right.