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Container for Cosmetic Powder

At the time when this object was dispatched to Stuttgart, in many regions of Namibia, similar cosmetic boxes were used by women, and would often be passed down through the generations along female lines of succession, in some cases to this day. Made from the shell of a small turtle, these private containers for cosmetic, perfumed body powder were sometimes adorned with strings of beads made from various materials (in this case metal and horn) strung on leather strings. The object may have been attached to a waist belt. Text: Sandra Ferracuti.

Data Provider
Linden-Museum Stuttgart Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde
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Cataloguing data

Cultural attribution
!Kung-San
Object type
Gefäß
Material/Technique
Leg, Turtle shell, Iron , Leather
Forged, cut, pierced, threaded, knotted
Current location
Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number
029433

Provenance and sources

when
around 1900 or earlier

where
Namibia

when
1903
Provenance
Volkmann's four collections came to the Linden Museum between 1903 and 1904. As he himself wrote in his letters to Graf von Linden, he acquired the objects himself in situ shortly before or in 1903 and 1904. The majority of the objects originate from the Kalahari region around Sandvelde and Grootfontein. The objects from the Okavango region probably originate from the territory of present-day Botswana, including the area of "King Andara", to whom Volkmann paid a diplomatic visit in 1903. Volkmann does not describe in detail how he acquired the objects, except by using the commonly used word "collecting". Text: Christoph Rippe.

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