NGUNI PRESTIGE CONTAINER
SOUTH AFRICA
£1,500
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 27 November 2018 at 11:00 GMT
Description
carved wood, standing on four legs, the piriform body is complimented by six panels of deeply engraved grooves seperated by verticle bands
Dimensions
35.5cm tall
Footnote
Provenance:
Private collection, Scotland
Note:
Containers of this type are part of a corpus of objects carved by Zulu speakers from the mid 19th century in the vicinity of Port Natal. They were produced for both a western and elite African clientele. Though originally termed "milk pails" the internal condition suggests they never held liquids, instead it has been suggested they were used to contain tobacco or snuff (Conru 2002).