Snuff container · South Africa, Zulu · ID: 3041205
Patrick Mestdagh, Brussels, Belgium
Description
calabash, copper- and brass wire, made from especially hard-shelled pumpkin, wire ornament in circles and semi-circles, number “13”, small round opening with accurately fitting lid;
the wire ends were inserted in holes which were drilled according to the desired pattern, but could not be fixed on the inside. Despite the wire decor is extremely durable. Snuff containers were made throughout Southern Africa, in part because of the widely-held assumption that snuff could be used to mediate relations between the ancestors and their descendants. The wirework decorations commonly used to make these containers varied from one area to another.
Comparing literature
Ginzberg, Marc, Afrikanische Formen, Mailand 2001, p. 120 Conru, Kevin (ed.), The Art of Southeast Africa, Milan 2002, ill. 55