Bamenda Ceremonial Pipe - Bird Form

Looped handle, a beaked head, and a fan tail make this pipe an acrobat.

This terra cotta ceremonial pipe in the form of a bird is Bamenda, from Cameroon, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Terra cotta is a fired, unglazed clay, and it is among the oldest materials used for pipes in Africa, the Americas and elsewhere. Shadowy pipe with a bowl at one end, a loop of carved arch beneath it and a long slender stem ending in a beak-like head. A fan-shaped tail stands at the back, and small ridges mark the stem.

Rather a lot of anatomy for a pipe.