Stylized man on horseback

ottobre 2025

You have to look at this lavishly decorated pipe twice before you know how the bowl is attached to the stem. It is an ingenious design by the Sotho, a sub-people of the Xhosa from the eastern part of South Africa. As is customary there, the pipe is made of acacia wood with a dark brown color, but in rare cases we see a hint of lighter shades towards yellow. In this pipe, this is clearly visible around the hooves of the standing horse. In the pipe bowl, hidden between the neck of the quadruped and the rider, we recognize the tribe's signature light oval shape. To protect the wood from burning, a wafer-thin sheet of iron lining has been applied to the inside. After the carving of the figures, inlay work with lead was added. This was done by cutting out the surface and filling it with liquid lead, then removing the excess with a knife. The meaning of this lead work is certainly not clear. In addition to two animal figures and some geometric patterns, a few curls are scattered over the bowl. The most attractive thing about this tobacco pipe, however, is the special stylization of rider and horse. Note the stylized head of the animal and especially the depiction of the rider with his wonderful geometrically shaped head with two beads as fixation points. With the omission of details, a convincing rider has still been created, a remarkable achievement!

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 30.967

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