Northern Nguni
South Africa
Eastern and Southern Africa
Snuff Kerrie
INV-2670
Northern Nguni
South Africa
Eastern and Southern AfricaProbably 19th century
south africanEastern and Southern AfricaArts of Africangunidecorative artsafrican art
Date
Probably 19th century
Medium
Wood and metal
Dimensions
D.: 64.5 cm (25 7/16 in.); DIMs of object on mount. : 42 × 8.9 × 64.8 cm (16 1/2 × 3 1/2 × 25 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
African Decorative Arts Fund
This snuff kerrie combines a knobkerrie, a short staff with a domed ball-head that could serve as a club in
hunting or combat, and a container for powdered tobacco to be used as snuff. Enhanced with human and animal features, the work has a velvety smooth, honey-colored surface. This fusion of two practical utensils into one finely carved wooden object is an excellent example of the ingenuity that characterizes work by artists in 19th-century southern Africa.
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