Superb 19th century Kuba pipe DR Congo African Art Kasaï
€ 450,00
Superb 19th century Kuba pipe DR Congo
People : Kuba
Country : DR Congo, Sankuru River
Early 20th century
Wood
Length : 51 cm
This elaborately carved and ornamented tobacco pipe was not merely a functional smoking implement, but was also emblematic of its owner’s status.
This work was commissioned during the unprecedented economic and artistic growth of the late nineteenth or earlier twentieth century Kuba kingdom. It closely resembles the figurative drinking vessels that Kuba elites—particularly men—used to drink palm wine (maan), a sweetly sour alcoholic beverage.