Lidded Gunpowder Container

Unknown

Before 1878 · Wood, copper, reptile skin, nails, leather · Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

A lidded container for gun powder with a bulbous body topped by a cylindrical neck. At the summit, a thin disk-shaped lid keeps the content enclosed. A leather string passes through metal loops and keeps the lid joined to the body. The work's wooden surface is covered by either reptile (varan) skin affixed to the wooden core with adorning rows of tapestry nails, or hammered brass. This distinctive gun power container is a rare example of a genre of personal object owned by prominent individuals in a Fang community. Its use of hammered brass and reptile skin (varan) is characteristic of the region's craftsmanship, displayed on a range of objects, from knifes' sheath to the surfaces of certain reliquary elements.

Artist

Unknown

Date

Before 1878

Medium

Wood, copper, reptile skin, nails, leather

Culture

Fang

Department

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Credit line

Gift of Bernard Dulon, 2019