A rare seven-bowled South Nguni pipe.
When held upright, the front of the bowl depicts a human face. When lying face down, the trunk-like pipe stem, leg-like bowls and ridged spine along the top of the pipe gives the pipe an elephantine quality.
A similar seven-bowl pipe by this master carver is illustrated in Art and Ambiguity (page 142, plate 120) and in the 2007 New York International Tribal Arts Show Catalog. Ann Wanless, writing about this carver in Art and Ambiguity, states "this imaginative use of form is rarely found in other aspects of the material culture of this area of South Africa".
Condition is good. Two bowls lack tin lining. |
