Artwork Page for Snuff Container

Details / Information for Snuff Container

Snuff Container

1800s–1900s

Africa, Southern Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe or Mozambique, Northern Nguni-style or Shona-style maker

Medium
Gourd and copper alloy
Measurements
Overall: 7.5 cm (2 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2010.200
Public Domain
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Location
108B Southern African
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Did You Know?

The snuff and tobacco held in this container were believed to enable communication between humans and ancestors.

Description

The shape and material of gourd snuff containers—like a woman’s womb, the gourd contains and nurtures the seed—suggest they were made for female users and allude to procreation and fecundity.
A spherical gourd vessel is dark reddish-brown with a small circular hole at the top. Raised patterns of tightly coiled copper wire decorate the polished surface, forming vertical diamonds and horizontal tiers of fan-like triangles. Patches of greenish oxidation mark the metallic wire, its ridged texture contrasting with the smooth, mottled finish of the gourd.

Snuff Container

1800s–1900s

Africa, Southern Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe or Mozambique, Northern Nguni-style or Shona-style maker

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