Gourgui Water Jar
The gourgui is a large earthenware water jar of Tunisia, made of porous red terracotta and fitted with a narrow neck and a pouring spout, traditionally used to store and cool drinking water. Because water slowly seeps through the unglazed clay and evaporates from the surface, the contents of the gourgui stay noticeably cooler than the air in the hot Tunisian summer. The jar was kept in the skifa, the entrance hall of traditional houses, mounted on a wooden stand formed of three crossed branches and a crescent-shaped tray, where it greeted family and guests alike, and similar jars still stand i