Pipe

Tobacco pipe; dark brown in color; stem of pipe is bent upward at the mouth piece end; three bulbous rings carved around rim; cylindrical stem; Molambo pattern on lower end of stem-series of crisscrossing groups of parallel lines; stem of pipe goes through bottom portion of bowl; bowl has an hourglass shape; top portion is larger and opened at top; bottom part has a flat base;bowl is incised with two raised rings around the center and two parallel rows of a zigzag pattern; cream colored fiber is stuffed into the stem end of pipe.

Tobacco was introduced to the west coast from America by the Portuguese in the 16th centruy. The Bushongo have a legend they learned to cultivate and smoke tobacco from their culture hero and king, Shamba Bolongongo, who had himself learned it's use from the Bapende in the west. Shamba Bolongongo is believed to have lived in the early 17th century.