Object Details
- Label Text
- Tobacco was introduced to Africa by the Portuguese and probably reached the Chokwe via the Kongo-Kwilu peoples or the Benguela trade route in the 17th century. In the beginning tobacco was smoked in pipes; by the 18th century it was ground into snuff. Because of the expense, snuff became the prerogative of chiefs, who offered it to visitors and used it to invoke the ancestors at public audiences.
- Joachim John Monteiro, a 19th-century visitor to Angola, saw Chokwe snuff mortars "carved out of wood and variously ornamented." The body of these snuff mortars are made of ivory, a prestige material.
- Description
- Cylindrical ivory container with a pierced lug on the side for a leather thong attached to a wood stopper in the form of a human head. Two rows of circle-dot motifs circle the top and bottom of the container.
- Provenance
- Dr. Werner Muensterberger, New York, ca. 1950-1980 to 1989
- Exhibition History
- Treasures 2008, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., April 9-August 24, 2008
- Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
- Published References
- Patton, Sharon F. and Bryna Freyer. 2008. Treasures 2008. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 94-95.
- Content Statement
- As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
- Image Requests
- High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
- Data Source
- National Museum of African Art
- Maker
- Chokwe artist
- Date
- Late 19th-early 20th century
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- Medium
- Ivory, wood, leather
- Dimensions
- H x W: 8.2 x 3.8 cm (3 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
