Object Details
- Label Text
- Tobacco and snuff were carried by travelers to Africa as early as the sixteenth century, as items of barter and gift giving. Especially in eastern and southern Africa, men and women still carry snuff containers made from a variety of materials, often decorative in nature. One common choice of container is the dried gourd that can be embellished with a netting of imported glass beads. Underneath the beadwork on this piece however, is an imported glass bottle. Imported items are totally intergrated into so called traditional African arts conforming to local styles and serving as status symbols.
- Description
- Snuff container composed of a glass bottle covered with red, white and black glass beads in a striped pattern. The stopper is fringed and a strand of striped white and black beads connect it to the bottom of the bottle.
- Provenance
- Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1989
- Exhibition History
- Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
- 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 Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks.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
- Zulu artist
- Date
- Late 19th-early 20th century
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase
- Medium
- Glass bottle, glass beads, wood, plant fiber
- Dimensions
- H x W: 14.9 x 6.7 cm (5 7/8 x 2 5/8 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
