id:			168421
accession number:	2010.200
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2010.200
updated:		2020-11-04 22:08:05.412000

Snuff Container, 1800s-1900s. Southern Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe or Mozambique, Northern Nguni or Shona. Gourd and copper alloy; overall: 7.5 cm (2 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2010.200

title:				Snuff Container
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1800s-1900s
creation date earliest:		1800
creation date latest:		1999
current location:		108B Southern African
creditline:			Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Southern Africa, South Africa, Zimbabwe or Mozambique, Northern Nguni or Shona
technique:	Gourd and copper alloy
department:	African Art
collection:	African Art
type:		Vessels
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 7.5 cm (2 15/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southern Africa
	opening date:   2011-04-17T00:00:00
	<i>The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects from Southern Africa</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 17, 2011-February 26, 2012).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Cleveland Museum of Art, (4/16/11-2/26/12); "The Art of Daily Life:  Portable Objects from Southeast Africa" cat. no. 17

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PROVENANCE

	Marc and Denyse Ginzberg, New York, 1981 to 2007; Sotheby's Paris, Sept. 10, 2007 (lot 96)
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 


digital description: 
The shape and material of gourd snuff containers—like a woman’s womb, the gourd contains and nurtures the seed—suggest they were made for female users and allude to procreation and fecundity.

wall description: 
Snuff containers made out of a gourd--the hard shell of the fruit of the Oncoba spinosa tree--and decorated with wirework were widespread in southern Africa. The shape and material of gourd snuff containers suggest they would have been made for female users. Like a woman’s womb, the gourd contains and nurtures the seed. Thus, the materials and the forms of snuff containers allude to procreation and fecundity.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.200/2010.200_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.200/2010.200_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2010.200/2010.200_full.tif