Bamum, Cameroon Grassfields: a pipe bowl of a prestige pipe belonging to a dignitary, in the form of a bird’s head, made of cast bronze.
Bamum, Cameroon Grassfields: a pipe bowl of a prestige pipe belonging to a dignitary, in the form of a bird’s head, made of cast bronze.
In the kingdoms of the Grassfields in Northwest Cameroon, tobacco pipes with artistically crafted bowls, such as the present one, were the exclusive ownership of high dignitaries and members of secret societies. Such figurative pipe bowls were mostly made of clay.
However this object, from the Bamum Kingdom, is made from bronze executed with ‘waste mould’ casting. It bears the detailed head of a bird as its motif. It is perhaps a rooster, a chicken or a hornbill that has just picked something. It is a beautiful piece with almost no damage and a visibly old usage patina. Height: 16 cm; length: 16 cm. Between the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Collection of Prof. Rudolf Leopold, Vienna; currently: Viennese private collection.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
09.06.2016 - 17:00
- Starting bid:
-
EUR 800.-
Bamum, Cameroon Grassfields: a pipe bowl of a prestige pipe belonging to a dignitary, in the form of a bird’s head, made of cast bronze.
In the kingdoms of the Grassfields in Northwest Cameroon, tobacco pipes with artistically crafted bowls, such as the present one, were the exclusive ownership of high dignitaries and members of secret societies. Such figurative pipe bowls were mostly made of clay.
However this object, from the Bamum Kingdom, is made from bronze executed with ‘waste mould’ casting. It bears the detailed head of a bird as its motif. It is perhaps a rooster, a chicken or a hornbill that has just picked something. It is a beautiful piece with almost no damage and a visibly old usage patina. Height: 16 cm; length: 16 cm. Between the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. (ME)
Provenance:
Collection of Prof. Rudolf Leopold, Vienna; currently: Viennese private collection.
Specialist: Erwin Melchardt
Erwin Melchardt
+43-1-515 60-465
erwin.melchardt@dorotheum.at
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| Auction: | Tribal Art - Africa |
| Auction type: | Saleroom auction |
| Date: | 09.06.2016 - 17:00 |
| Location: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
| Exhibition: | 04.06. - 09.06.2016 |