Bamenda Ceremonial Pipe - Bird Form

Smooth, bird-headed bowl with a long stem carved with fine zigzags.

This terra cotta ceremonial pipe in the form of a bird is Bamenda, from Cameroon, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Birds appear in the art of many African peoples, where they may be linked with messages, vision or the spirit world, though meanings vary by community. Slender dark pipe whose bowl takes the form of a small bird head with a pointed beak and a ridge of fine crest marks. The stem is decorated with thin angled incisions and a slightly worn glossy finish. It is 7 inches wide, 1.75 deep and 2 high.

Neat, compact, and just a little dramatic.