Bamenda Ceremonial Pipe - Two Birds Form

A pipe with a bird on the bowl and a line of scratched hatching down the stem.

Bamenda potters of Cameroon, Central Africa, formed this ceremonial pipe in brown terra cotta in the 20th century. Pipes from the Cameroon Grassfields are commonly linked with rank, hospitality and the gatherings of chiefs and elders, and many carry animal or human heads. The bowl here rises into two bird forms, beaks pointed forward, set on a long straight stem. Fine incised rings and ticks mark the length of the stem. The clay is dark and smooth, burnished to a gentle sheen with small chips at the edges.

About 6 and a half inches long. Lay it across a tray and it looks as though it just got put down.