Figure from a Pipe Stem
- Culture
- Chokwe artist
- Date
- 19th century
- possibly associated with
- Lunda Norte province, Angola, Africa
- possibly associated with
- Lunda Sul province, Angola, Africa
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 117
- Dimensions
- 5 7/8 x 2 1/4 x 2 5/8 in. (14.9 x 5.7 x 6.7 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 24:1942
NOTES
Imaginative smoking paraphernalia offered visual and tactile pleasure while preparing and smoking tobacco. The figure portrayed here may represent the pipe’s owner. The elaborate crown and hairstyle, called "cikunga," is the emblem of a Chokwe chief. The brass upholstery tacks accentuating the figure’s head and body further enhanced the prestige of the pipe as these were foreign, imported materials.
Tobacco, a plant native to the Americas, was introduced to Africa by the Portuguese in the 16th century. By the 18th century, it was widely used across the continent. Privileged male and female leaders and elders, and others wealthy and well-connected enough to obtain tobacco through trade, sought decorative pipes for smoking, mortars for grinding tobacco leaves into snuff, and containers for storage as prestige goods.
Provenance
by 1927 -
Félix Fénéon, France [1]
by 1935 - 1942
Frank Crowninshield (1872–1947), New York, NY, USA [2]
1942 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at auction, "African Sculptures," McMillen, Inc., New York, October 16 - November 7, 1941, lot no. 24 [3]
Notes:
[1] The main source of this provenance is a letter from Marie-Louise Bastin (Musée Royal de L'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium) dated September 16, 1969. She reports that this finial is illustrated on page 11 in A. Portier and F. Poncetton's book "Les arts sauvages: Afrique" published in Paris by Editions Albert Morancé (1st edition in 1927). The caption referencing the illustration of the finial reads: "Fétiche. Vatchivokoe. Congo portugais. Coll. Félix Fénéon" [SLAM document files].
[2] The Crowninshield Collection was included in the pioneering exhibition and catalogue "African Negro Art" in 1935, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York by curator James Johnson Sweeney. 24:1942 is illustrated in black and white in the unpaginated plates, figure 585 ("African Negro Art" [exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, NY], edited by James Johnson Sweeney. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1935).
[3] An invoice dated April 27, 1942 from McMillen, Inc. to the City Art Museum documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Vatchivakoe Fetish, Angola" [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 2, 1942.
Félix Fénéon, France [1]
by 1935 - 1942
Frank Crowninshield (1872–1947), New York, NY, USA [2]
1942 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at auction, "African Sculptures," McMillen, Inc., New York, October 16 - November 7, 1941, lot no. 24 [3]
Notes:
[1] The main source of this provenance is a letter from Marie-Louise Bastin (Musée Royal de L'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium) dated September 16, 1969. She reports that this finial is illustrated on page 11 in A. Portier and F. Poncetton's book "Les arts sauvages: Afrique" published in Paris by Editions Albert Morancé (1st edition in 1927). The caption referencing the illustration of the finial reads: "Fétiche. Vatchivokoe. Congo portugais. Coll. Félix Fénéon" [SLAM document files].
[2] The Crowninshield Collection was included in the pioneering exhibition and catalogue "African Negro Art" in 1935, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York by curator James Johnson Sweeney. 24:1942 is illustrated in black and white in the unpaginated plates, figure 585 ("African Negro Art" [exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, NY], edited by James Johnson Sweeney. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1935).
[3] An invoice dated April 27, 1942 from McMillen, Inc. to the City Art Museum documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Vatchivakoe Fetish, Angola" [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, April 2, 1942.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.