Dik-dik Lozi Pipe

According to the Smithsonian’s Karen Milbourne, pipe bowls of this type, although typically described as Lozi, were traditionally made by the Ila, a group that were subjects of the Lozi Kingdom. This old redware pipe depicts a Dik-dik. Dik-dik have a tuft of hair in the middle of their head, which this animal appears to have as well. Males have short, spiky horns while females have none. The Ila and Lozi live in the floodplains of the Zambezi River, which is inundated with water during the rainy season, forcing the Ila people to move to higher ground. The area is rich in wildlife, with herds of buffalo and elephants, as well as the predators that hunt such animals, particularly lions. The Ila people depict animals on their food storage vessels, spoons, pipes, and stools. This pipe is likely circa 1900-1910, during the reign of the Lozi King Lewanika. Lewanika organized the sale of pipes, spoons, baskets and other traditional ware through the southern Rhodesian city of Bulawayo by 1896. The completion of a railroad to Victoria Falls and onward towards the Zambian Copper Belt brought tourists to the site and Lozi lands soon after, leading to the establishment of “Lewanika’s Native Curios Shoppe” at the site in 1905. These zoomorphic pipe bowls were an active tradition among the Ila people, in parallel with souvenir trade.

3″

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