Snuff Container

Cleveland Museum of Art

Snuff Container

Date
1800s–1900s
Medium
Gourd and copper alloy
Culture
Africa, Southern Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe or Mozambique, Northern Nguni-style or Shona-style maker
Department
African Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
168421

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

The shape and material of gourd snuff containers—like a woman’s womb, the gourd contains and nurtures the seed—suggest they were made for female users and allude to procreation and fecundity. The snuff and tobacco held in this container were believed to enable communication between humans and ancestors.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Provenance
1981–2007: Marc and Denyse Ginzberg, New York, NY | 2007: (Sotheby's, Paris, France, Sept. 10, 2007, lot 96) | 2010: (Jacaranda Tribal Art Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 2010–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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