H x W x D: 14.3 x 1.9 x 1 cm (5 5/8 x 3/4 x 3/8 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
South Africa
Date:
Early to mid-20th century
Label Text:
Zulu snuff spoons were frequently carved from the rib bones of oxen or cows. Incised and punched designs were blackened with fat and ash. These spoons were used to take snuff from a container or to remove sweat from the brow.
Description:
Bone spoon with a pointed oval bowl and a flat handle ending in a point, with three incised and blackened circle-dot motifs at the bowl end of the handle and flanking each side of a relief hollow cylinder form.
Provenance:
Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1989
Exhibition History:
Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
Content Statement:
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