Several years ago it was generally thought that the stirrup spout form was unique to the New World and that diffusion could account for all of its occurrences. When 2 African stirrup spouts from the Congo were documented, the question of independent invention was raised, even though the Congo vessels were similar to American types. Recently, various stirrup spout vessels have been found in Nigeria. A Mwona stirrup spout, like those of their neighbors, appears to have little in common with American stirrup spout vessels and the vessels reported from the Congo. The differences in form and function of the documented Nigerian vessels make independent invention of the stirrup spout form a more plausible hypothesis than has been previously believed.