A Kuba carved wooden pipe. ++ A carved wooden pipe with wrapped brass wire near the mouthpiece, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kuba. Early 20th century. 20" x 3 1/2" x 5".
Provenance: The Inventory and Collection from the Estate of Merton D. Simpson. "This elaborately carved and ornamented tobacco pipe was not merely a functional smoking implement, but was also emblematic of its owner’s status..The origins of pipe smoking in West Central Africa have been debated; tobacco itself was likely introduced from the Americas by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. (Philips 1983, 308, 317). By the time that European and American observers first visited the Kuba kingdom in the nineteenth century, tobacco smoking was a well-established social practice there. " metmuseum.org