This Wagogo wooden snuff container consists of two carved pieces. The container’s stopper, attached to a leather strap, is adorned with two rows of finely cut triangular decorations.
Estimated Period: First Half of 20th Century
Snuff, a preparation of powdered and processed tobacco, has been widely used in Africa since Europeans introduced tobacco in the sixteenth-century. The act of taking and sharing snuff, a substance connected to the ancestral realm, unifies the social and the spiritual.
References
British Museum, ‘Smoking and Snorting Tobacco in South Africa’ https://britishmuseum.tumblr.com/post/156938048217/smoking-and-snorting-tobacco-in-south-africa
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