The vessel is made from one-half of a coconut shell. The shell is thick, and the opening slopes inward and has a wide rim. The outer surface is rough and untreated but becomes smoother and black toward the rim. Three grains run to the lower outer tip, which is flattened horizontally. The grains become more prominent toward the centre. The inner surface is smooth and sooty black. How did the object come to the Übersee-Museum? The collection was purchased by the museum from Otto Tetens in 1907. Tetens was director of the Samoa Observatory of the Royal Society of Sciences in Göttingen in the colony of German Samoa from 1902 to 1905. Nothing is yet known about the exact circumstances of Tetens' acquisition on site.