Pipe bowl: head
Pipe bowl: head
Pipe bowl: head
Pipe bowl: head
Pipe bowl: head
Pipe bowl: head

Currently not on view

Pipe bowl: head,

20th century

Cameroon Grassfields artist
1998-687

Cameroonian men and women smoked after meals and at ritual events, but only the elite used such elaborately decorated pipes. The bulging eyes, puffed cheeks, and open mouth on these head-shaped pipes are sculptural conventions; they also recall expressions made by smokers while inhaling or exhaling. The figures’ knobbed caps, a type originally worn by Bamum kings and titleholders, convey prestige. Cameroonian artists shaped such pipes from locally sourced clay, which was then fired and glazed with soot and vegetable sap.

Information

Title
Pipe bowl: head
Dates

20th century

Maker
Cameroon Grassfields artist
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
17.2 cm x 10.2 cm x 13.5 cm (6 3/4 x 4 x 5 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951
Object Number
1998-687
Place Made

Africa, Cameroon, Grassfields

Culture
African, Cameroon grasslands
Type
ceramics, pipes (smoking equipment)
Materials
terracotta, ceramic
Techniques
firing (technique)
Subject
caps (headgear), prestige, heads

John B. Elliott, New York, NY; Princeton University Art Museum, 1998

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