Bamenda Ceremonial Pipe - Bird Form

Big-eyed bird with a hooked beak guards the bowl of this long pipe.

This terra cotta ceremonial pipe in the form of a bird is Bamenda, from Cameroon, Central Africa, and dates to the 20th century. Pipes in the Cameroon Grassfields are generally associated with status and hospitality, and are often modeled in animal or human forms. Dark pipe with a bird sitting upright at the bowl end, its round eye and curved beak finely carved and small claws gripping the base. The stem is covered with thin incised lines in zigzag patterns. It is 7.5 inches wide, 1.5 deep and 3 high.

Strong profile, nice scratches, and a very watchful eye.