These two snuff containers, with their ovoid finials and flowing tails, are almost identical to four in the World Museum Rotterdam. These all have a single, undivided ‘tail’ or tine. A slender, narrower finial with a ‘tail’ divided into multiple prongs is a more common form and has been provenanced to regions as widely spread as Lesotho, Natal, and Mozambique. Three similar, but not identical, items are included in the Annals of the South African Museum Vol. 24 and provenanced as Basuto. These ‘tails’ were tucked into a waistband or, in the case of pointed versions, and especially those with multiple tines, were worn pushed through the hair.

The small round bodies of the finials with their elongated ‘tails’ bring to mind the long-tailed widow bird (sakabula) hovering over the veld (grasslands). It is found in many part of the southern sub-continent including Lesotho and South Africa, its feathers used to create the headdresses for warriors in the Natal Colony and possibly further afield. The darker example presented here bears what could be two small wings or arms, amplifying a sense of a bird or human form. Some examples have finials that have been carved to look like human heads.

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