ETHAF 013885

fourneau de pipe à tabac sculpté

Back to results
013885
Pipe bowl
Cameroon, Grassfields, Foumban or northwest region
Bamum kingdom or Bamessing workshop. Early 20th century
Terracotta
Gift of Josette Debarge, a missionary doctor in Bangwa, in 1933
MEG Inv. ETHAF 013885
Geolocate the object
This pipe bowl forms an intriguing figure, half animal, half human, with a bat's head and clasped hands. Tobacco pipes were once plentiful in the Grassfields. They were usually made of a clay bowl set on a wooden stem. The monarchs and the elite owned ceremonial pipes, veritable sculptures in bronze and clay of exceptional dimensions.

The image above is subject to copyright.
Copyrights for Photographic Reproduction

Registres d'inventaires historiques

Les feuillets numérisés des registres d'inventaires historiques sont soumise à un copyright.
Droits de reproduction photographique

Copie dactylographiée en 13 volumes de l'Inventaire original MEG manuscrit
Registres_inventaire_dactylographie/542.pdf

Registre d'inventaire original - non indexé
Registres_inventaire_original/Registre_05_013879_016638.pdf

 

Ressources

Cameroon Grassfields Map

The Kingdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields

In the west of present-day Cameroon, a highland region known as the Grasslands or Grassfields shelters numerous tiny states: the Bamenda cultural area in the north, the "Bamileke" kingdoms in the south and the Bamum kingdom in the east. Before the colonial era, these kingdoms vied with one another in prestige and riches as well as in art and architecture. The kings commissioned the best sculptors and bronze casters from the neighbouring regions.

Masks performance. Bamum Kingdom

Masks performance. Bamum Kingdom. Photo by Anna Wuhrmann, Foumban, around 1920. Gifted by Josette Debarge in 1932. © Archives MEG

© 2021 Musée d'ethnographie, Genève