This clay pipe bowl depicts a ruler or a dignitary. It was made at the beginning of the 20th century in the Kingdom of Bali in the Cameroon grasslands. Around 1900, kings, dignitaries and heads of families in the Cameroon grasslands smoked tobacco. The higher the rank of the smoker, the more splendid the pipe was supposed to be. The pipe bowl was collected by Eugen Zintgraff between 1889 and 1896. Zintgraff travelled frequently to Cameroon between 1889 and 1896, first in the colonial service and later as a private individual. In 1889 he founded the Baliburg station in the high grasslands of Cameroon and the next year he visited Bali again. In 1891, after a campaign against the kingdoms of Bafut and Mankon, Zintgraf gave up colonial service. In 1896, he returned to northern Cameroon and took part in the founding of the West African Planting Society Victoria (WAPV). His brutal treatment of the Africans who worked for him was controversial in the colonial era.