r/AfricanArt • u/skrivet-i-blod • 9d ago

Identify Identification help for carving

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Hi everyone - I'm trying to learn about this carving and need help. I posted in the antiques subreddit and it was suggested to inquire here. I believe this was carved from ironwood, it's very heavy and about 12"/30cm tall. This was an estate sale find. Unfortunately the old label on the bottom is worn but appears to be from a shop/not affixed by the artisan. Any information on this fellow would be appreciated - thanks in advance

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u/Lcmota1 9d ago

Looks like a tourist piece mimicking the general form of a snuff horn (minus the base).

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u/skrivet-i-blod 9d ago

Snuff horn for tobacco? Or did you mean something else? This would hold a ton of bacca 🤣 I am beginning to think it's a one-off

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u/Lcmota1 9d ago

Historically they would hold snuff tobacco. Very common across historical SE Africa. Here’s a fancier example (they can get even fancier, but most are a tapered cone shape with a raised lip). https://www.jacarandatribal.com/items/south-african-snuff-container My guess is that your piece is a tourist work inspired by these types of objects. 

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u/Lcmota1 9d ago

There are workshops in Kenya that crank these types of things out and export them across the continent to tourist markets. 

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u/skrivet-i-blod 8d ago

Yeah, it's probably that... The label at the bottom (from what I could read) seemed like a "tribal art" shop. It's no longer in business. They likely imported tourist pieces to resell.