ClassificationsAfrican Art
Pipe
Place CreatedCameroon, Africa
CultureBamelike
Date20th Century
MediumTerracotta
Credit LineEx coll. William S. Arnett
Dimensions5 15/16 in. (15.1 cm)
Object number1999.003.084
Label TextPipe smoking has been a popular pastime among men and women in many African societies since the 1500s, when tobacco from America was introduced on the continent. Pipes used daily were small functional items, modest in decoration. Other pipes, like this one, were made on commission as prestige articles for individual patrons to have at hand during ceremonial functions. This fired clay pipe bowl, from the Bamileke region of the Cameroon Grassfields, was exhibited to indicate the owner's social status and familial affiliation. The oversized ferocious face may be simian. Images of primates are reserved for exclusive use by members of the royal court. The basic form of the pipe bowl was modeled like a pot. However, once it was leather-hard, the figurative design elements were carved into the surface. To the present day, pipe bowls are regarded as carvings and are therefore made by men, traditionally carvers of "hard" materials like wood and ivory, rather than by women potters.Exhibition HistoryThe Art of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Michael C. Carlos Museum, November 8, 1997 - January 4, 1998
Spirited Vessels: Creation and Ritual in African Ceramics, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 7 - April 11, 2004
Published ReferencesMarcilene K. Wittmer, Cameroon: An Exhibition of African Art from the Collection of William and Robert Arnett (Charlotte, NC: Mint Museum, 1977), 48, number 78.
ProvenanceEx coll. William S. Arnett (1939-2020), Atlanta, Georgia, by 1977.
Status
Not on viewCollections
- African Art
20th Century
late 19th-early 20th Century
20th Century
20th Century
1st Century BCE
1st-2nd Century CE
late 19th Century
ca. 3000 BCE
19th-20th Century
20th Century
20th Century
