List of the historical catalogue

A.- REGAILS: PIPAS

Text and organisation of the original catalogue · Jesús Arrimadas Saavedra

The pipe is a prestigious object, essentially masculine, that indicates the rank of its owner. They are notable for their beauty and careful elaboration the bamún pipes (Cameroon), manufactured in bronze by the procedure of lost wax or in mud and bone. Sometimes they can reach important dimensions. Most of the time they don’t smoke in it. The decoration of its bowls or tubes represents the fundamental concepts of the clan in symbolic language. In any case these pipes rival the richness and variety of the motifs of their artistic decorations. In most ethnic groups, the decoration of their bowls reproduces in symbolic language the fundamental concepts of the tribe. They were not normally meant to smoke in them but to serve as ornaments at ceremonies. Royalties are the material symbols representative of the head’s authority. They are the main symbols of power and dignity and can only be carried and possessed by those who wield power. Ceremony swords, flyflies, scepters and command sticks are part of the royalties. Only kings can carry scepters and batons of command. The scepter is, par excellence, the symbol of royal power, to such an extent that even in the absence of the king, honor and pleitesy are given to it. They are usually delicately sculpted and richly decorated, whether made of wood, bronze or covered with gold foil as in the Akan country.

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