Consume DM World Cultures Gallery Guide

Consume Things used to eat, drink and make merry

Gallery Guide

Things used to eat, drink and make merry Here are things that people have eaten off, drunk from, shared with friends, chatted over, cooked with, cleaned, broken and mended, demanded, taken for granted and cherished.

Once filled with life-sustaining, comforting and indulgent food and drinks, or healing, soothing and mind-altering medicines, these are (almost) all now empty. Spot the chips and cracks that interrupt the objects and tell a story of use and of journey.

Regardless of where or when, there are similarities and connections to be made with meal times and moments of food, feasting and medicinal practice today.

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Consume 2

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Can you help discover more about these objects’ stories?

The objects marked with this symbol are unidentified or need further research. Take a look at the folder in the bookcase by the seating area. It has images and information about these objects. We welcome your ideas, input or expertise.

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Saqa, water storage jar This glazed water pot is highly decorated with incised patterns, illustrating the important role played by water in Fijian religious ceremonies.

Fiji, Pacific Ocean

Pottery bowl Tripod bowl with human head handles.

Probably Roatán Island, Honduras Bay, Central America

The uneven neck and wavy patterning suggest this functional clay pot has been hand thrown rather than produced on a wheel.

Pottery jar This is probably a water cooling jar. The porous pottery keeps the water cool through evaporation.

North Africa or Middle East, Asia

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?

Undated, pre 15th century

Pottery jug

Unprovenanced

19th – early 20th century

?

19th – early 20th century

Saqa moli, water drinking vessel Saqa moli vessels are in the shape of a cluster of citrus fruits, with pinched and painted decoration covering the entire surface. Water is poured into the hole at the top and comes out through the short spout.

Fiji, Pacific Ocean

19th – early 20th century

?

19th – early 20th century

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Tanoa, kava bowl

Food bowl

This eight-legged ceremonial bowl was used to mix water and kava, a psychoactive drink made from the dried root of the pepper bush, Piper methysticum.

The kava ceremony is one of the most important Samoan customs and these bowls act as an enduring icon of Samoan hospitality and culture. Kava is used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes by a wide range of Pacific societies.

This food bowl would have been used for making mona, a popular sweet food made from the plant taro and served with a sugar and coconut milk sauce.

Samoa, Pacific Ocean

19th century

Massim people, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Wooden bowl The decoration has been burnt into the wood.

Unprovenanced

19th – early 20th century

?

Late 19th – early 20th century

Kumete, food bowl

Two milk vessels

An elegant wooden bowl with a handle at either end, one of which has been cut away for liquids to be poured out more easily.

Cows are milked directly into these vessels and then children sit rocking the vessel to make butter.

The baskets are tightly twined with string and have leather straps decorated with cowrie shells.

Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean

19th century Ethiopia or Somali, Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Pottery jar Istanbul, Turkey, Europe and Asia

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Date unknown

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Pottery jar

Gourd bowl

The jar is hand-decorated with brown paint.

This storage vessel made from half a dried gourd was probably used for millet.

Algeria (probably), North Africa

19th – early 20th century

West Africa, unprovenanced

Food bowl

Gourd vessel

These bowls were often used for making mona, a popular sweet food made from the plant taro and served with a sugar and coconut milk sauce.

The carving on the rim is infilled with lime made from burnt seashells.

With pokerwork decoration.

Massim people, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Africa, unprovenanced

?

19th – 20th century

Pottery bowl

Repaired wooden bowl The bowl has been repaired with staples to prolong its use, a fascinating example of how objects have been mended and recycled.

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Late 19th – early 20th century

19th century

Probably Roatán Island, Honduras Bay, Central America

Unprovenanced

?

?

?

300 -1500 CE

Cup This painted cup is about 3,000 years old.

Cyprus, Europe

1050-650 BCE

19th – 20th century

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Chinese porcelain plate with Mundy family arms Ceramics decorated with a family coat of arms are called armorial porcelain. This plate is decorated with the arms and crest of the Mundy family of Markeaton Hall, Derby. It is estimated that about 5,000 armorial services were made in China from about 1700 to 1820.

This was probably made in the Jingdezhen region, then transported by foot on a long trek to Guangzhou where it would have been put on an East India Company ship for the long journey to England.

Made in China, Asia / Used in Markeaton Hall, Derby, UK, Europe

Mid 18th century

Bamboo tea strainer Tea was first drunk in Tibet about 1,400 years ago.

Today, butter tea or po cha is particularly popular and has a high calorific content.

Tibet, Asia

Early 20th century

Goat’s horn spoon Goats are an important part of farming and livestock in Paraguay and there would have been a plentiful supply of horn to use to make objects such as this.

Paraguay, South America

Drawer 1

Late 19th – early 20th century

Beer strainer

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These cone-shaped woven grass baskets are woven by women for use in traditional Zulu beer making.

The maize and sorghum beer is brewed by women and is usually of low alcohol content. It is poured through a basket strainer during the fermentation process to remove the grain husks. Women brew beer in a special hut that has a partial roof to allow smoke to escape.

Wooden ladle or spoon

Zulu people, South Africa

South Africa

c.1860-1880

?

Late 19th – early 20th century

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Mate cup

Bombilla, mate drinking straw

This cup is made from a gourd, which was bound into shape while it was growing. The rim is made of silver.

It was used for drinking mate, a traditional South American caffeine-rich drink from the Plata region, made from dried leaves of the yerba mate plant. It is also known as cimarrón in Spanish and is consumed all over South America, as well as in Syria, Lebanon, Poland and Ukraine.

Today mate is promoted worldwide as a health drink, rich in antioxidants, and claimed to be good for concentration, weight loss and for lowering cholesterol.

Southern South America, unprovenanced

Wooden spoon or ladle

19th – early 20th century

Chile, South America

Africa, unprovenanced

?

Late 19th – early 20th century

Bombilla, mate drinking straw

Two coconut spoons

This silver bombilla straw has a perforated bulb at the end to strain the mate leaves. Mate has been drunk by indigenous South American people for many hundreds of years and ancient legends tell how it was originally a gift from the gods. Traditionally mate is drunk with much ceremony, symbolising friendship and hospitality.

In the South Pacific coconut trees provided materials for living - food and drink, vessels, clothing and housing. These food spoons are carved from coconuts with human figures on the handles, probably representing ancestors. The carved decoration is inlaid with lime made from crushed and burnt sea shells.

Southern South America, unprovenanced

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c. 1890

Late 19th – early 20th century

Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th century

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Velvet napkin rings

Gourd spoon

Decorated with melon seeds and beads. You can see the box that held these in the Furnish case.

This spoon is decorated with images of rheas and a person riding a four-legged animal. The style is typical of the Guaraní people of Paraguay.

South Africa

Guaraní people, Paraguay, South America

c. 1900

Pair of gourd spoons

Two spoons

These have pokerwork decoration, made using a heated tool to burn the design into the skin of the gourds.

Soba, Kaduna State, North West Nigeria, Africa

Karamojong people, Uganda, Africa

Mid 20th century

c. 1960

Drawer 2

Punch ladle Ukhezo, beer spoons Traditional African maize and sorghum beer is made by women for special occasions such as weddings, funerals, religious ceremonies and feasts and it is central to traditional cultures across most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Spoons like this are used to skim off froth during brewing, and for pouring the froth on the ground as an offering to the ancestors.

Once the beer is brewed, the woman who brewed it starts off the drinking ceremony.

Zulu people, South Africa

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Early 20th century

Punch was a popular drink among the wealthy in 18th century Britain, made from alcoholic spirits, water, sugar, citrus fruit and spices. It would be made in large bowls and served into cups using a ladle. Notice the stop hook on the back of the handle of this spoon, to stop it falling into the punch bowl.

UK, Europe

18th – 19th century

Mid 19th century

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Two wooden spoons Ghana, Africa

Spoon Late 19th – early 20th century

Mid 20th century

Ukhezo, beer spoons

Punch ladle

Traditional Zulu sorghum and maize beer is central to many social occasions in Zulu culture. When it is served the woman who brewed it uses a spoon like this to skim off the froth from the top and pour it on the ground as an offering to the ancestors. She then stirs the beer, fills a communal gourd or clay pot and takes the first drink before passing it round to guests in order of status.

Punch was introduced to Britain from India in the early 17th century by sailors from the British East India Company and became a popular part of social drinking occasions.

South Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Double-ended spoon

Unprovenanced

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Karamojong people, Uganda, Africa

?

19th – early 20th century

UK, Europe

18th – 19th century

Goat horn ladle The handle of this spoon is carved with animals, including a raven, which is a bird of great significance to First Nations peoples, featured in many stories.

The carving is similar to that on totem poles and illustrates the cultures’ deep respect for nature.

Carved, steamed and moulded from the horn of a black mountain goat, the spoon would be used at potlatches (gift-giving feasts) and other special occasions.

Haida, Tlingit or Tsimshian people, Pacific Northwest Coast, North America

19th century

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Sumicha, oil lamp spoon

Bulutoko, flesh fork

Rather than being for food or drink, this spoon was used for transferring oil from the vessel to the bowl of the sukunda lamp, for burning during religious and social events including weddings and birthdays.

Notice the peacock on the handle. You can see three sukunda lamps in the Furnish case.

Multi-pronged forks were used by priests and high chiefs who were forbidden to touch the food they ate, due to their potent divine power. Cannibalism was an accepted, normal part of Fijian life until the 1870s when the British colonial administration banned it, and these forks were used during the ritual eating of meat, whether human or animal. Flesh forks were sensationalised and referred to as ‘cannibal forks’

by Europeans.

Newar people, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, Asia

19th – early 20th century

Fiji, Pacific Ocean

Wooden ladle This may be an incomplete double ended spoon used in beer making.

Origin unknown; possibly Zulu Tsonga people, South Africa

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19th century

?

Late 19th – early 20th century

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Photo : Chevy-Jordan Thompson

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Case

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Recycled tin mug This mug was made by Erdington Byfield, a bulldozer operator who lives on St Kitts. Mugs made out of recycled food tins were being made on St Kitts from at least the 1920s to the 1970s. People would drink cocoa and bush tea out of them, and they were very practical, being durable and easy to beat back into shape if dropped. In the 1970s ceramic and plastic crockery became more affordable.

Brass beaker The beaker is decorated with intricate flora, fauna and geometric patterns.

Africa or South Asia, unprovenanced

Water carrying and drinking vessel Late 19th – early 20th century

This water jar is designed so that you can drink straight out of it. In the Nivaclé language the word Nivaclé simply means ‘human’.

Nivaclé people, Gran Chaco region, Paraguay, South America

Brass beaker Africa, unprovenanced

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Late 20th century

Late 19th – early 20th century

Brass beaker India, Asia

St Kitts, West Indies, Caribbean

Late 19th – early 20th century

Jug Late 19th – early 20th century

Cyprus, Europe

c. 2000 1500 BCE

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Ancient Egyptian bag-shaped jar

Dorak, water bottle

Museum records say that this was taken ‘from a tomb near Cairo’. It was donated to the museum by Mrs Donoghue, the sister-in-law of Lord Carnarvon’s doctor.

Lord Carnarvon financed the famous discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the 1920s.

Used for drinking water from after meals. The water would come from wells, or from the Nile itself, as in the early 19th century Nile water was considered better than the water from wells in Cairo. The thin porous pottery keeps the water cool through evaporation.

The inside of these bottles was perfumed with the smoke of aromatic wood and mastic tree resin.

Cairo, Egypt, Africa

c. 1550 - 1070 BCE Egypt, Africa

Jar

Ancient Egyptian jar

Decorated with a face and carved handle-like adornos (adornments) in the shape of animals, possibly crocodiles. You can see other adornos in one of the drawers in the Believe zone.

This was excavated from a tomb at Beni Hasan, an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site for provincial governors and officials. It would have contained food or drink meant for the dead person to use in the afterlife.

Roatán Island, Bay Islands, Honduras, Central America

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18th – 19th century

c. 800 - 1000 CE

Beni Hasan, Egypt

c. 2200 - 1600 BCE

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Toilet ablution water bottle

Food pounder

What happens when we don’t know… We assumed that this vessel was for drinking water. We didn’t know where it came from. Thanks to a Somalian visitor, we have found out it is actually a North African toilet ablution bottle used to clean the bottom and hands after going to the toilet.

These calcite food pounders are made from stalactites found in deep limestone caves in the cliffs surrounding the island of Mangaia. They were used to mash taro root or breadfruit to make poke or po’e, a sweet pudding flavoured with coconut cream.

North or east Africa or Middle East, Asia

Late 19th – early 20th century

Mangaia, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean

White slipware tankard

Painted bottles

This is coated with cream slip and painted with a hooked chain and lattice work pattern, very popular in the Aegean and the Levant during the late Cypriot period.

The museum record says that these are ‘English bottles painted

by Afghans’, donated in 1888. They are wine and beer bottles, probably imported into Afghanistan for the British troops stationed there during or shortly after the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880). The empty bottles were mended and decorated by Afghan people, perhaps for resale to Europeans. They were donated to the museum by General Meir; we have not found out who he was.

Cyprus, Europe

c.1450 - 1200 BCE

Afghanistan, Asia

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19th century

?

Mid – late 19th century

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Water bottle

Kava cup

This is probably an Egyptian kulleh or water bottle.

The cup is made from half a coconut which has been sanded and smoothed. It is used for scooping out and drinking kava from communal kava bowls such as the eight-legged wooden bowl on display in the case behind you.

Unprovenanced, probably Egypt, Africa

19th – early 20th century

Fiji, Pacific Ocean

19th – early 20th century

Water bottle This is probably an Egyptian kulleh or water bottle.

Unprovenanced, probably Egypt, Africa

Botijo, water jug

Brass tray

A botijo is a traditional Spanish water storage and drinking bottle. It is designed to cool the water inside through evaporation.

India, Asia

Malaga, Spain, Europe

Ivory cup

Nigeria/Cameroon, Africa

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19th – early 20th century

19th – early 20th century

1860s

?

19th – early 20th century

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Brass tray

Brass tray British copper from Swansea was imported into India by the British East India Company for the manufacture of decorated brass household items during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some were exported back to the UK and are known in the antiques trade as ‘Benares Brass’ after the Indian city.

India, Asia

19th – early 20th century

19th – early 20th century

Punch-decorated brass neptune dish

Brass tray

Large brass dishes, called neptunes, were imported from Europe through the busy port city of Calabar from the 1890s onwards. Women of the city, particularly those of the Ironbar family, began an industry punch-decorating the neptunes, using nails as punches. A great many punch-decorated dishes were made and sold to Europeans or given as prestigious gifts.

This depicts the Hindu goddess Kamadhenu, divine mother of all cows, also known as the wish-fulfilling cow. This deity has many physical similarities (eagle wings, peacock tail, female face) with Al-Buraq, the Islamic heavenly creature that carried the prophet Muhammad on the night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and back. The teats on this animal mark it out as Kamadhenu.

Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, Africa

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India, Asia

Late 19th – early 20th century

India, Asia

19th – early 20th century

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Porcelain plate Porcelain was invented in China over 2,200 years ago. By the 17th century porcelain was being made in China specifically for export to Europe, with shapes and decoration that appealed to European tastes.

Chinese ceramics had a great influence on the development of ceramics in Europe.

China, Asia

c.1720-1780

Metal tray Metalworking is a centuries-old skilled trade in Bida and is still practised today by young apprentices in small workshops, often recycling scrap metals.

Homeware such as trays are subtly punch-decorated and are often commissioned for wedding ceremonies.

This tray was bought from the man who made it, at Bida market in 1969.

Bida, Nigeria, Africa

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1960s

Photo : Chevy-Jordan Thompson

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Case

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Two spouted water vessels

?

Rather than being for drinking water as we first thought, these are probably water ablution jars, used for washing the hands and bottom after going to the toilet.

Africa, unprovenanced, probably Egypt

Late 19th – early 20th century

Mate cup Gourd cup for drinking mate, a traditional caffeine-rich drink from the River Plate Basin of South America, made from dried leaves of the yerba mate plant.

Chile, South America

Gourd snuff bottle

Leather-covered glass bottle

Gourds are a hard-skinned fruit that can be hollowed out, dried and used for a huge range of purposes including water bottles, food bowls, snuff bottles, boxes and musical instruments.

British glass whisky or brandy bottle, covered in leather and decorated with plaited grasses in West Africa.

Africa, unprovenanced

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c. 1890

Late 19th – early 20th century

Sierra Leone (probably), West Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

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Wooden palm wine cup

Soapstone tripod bowl

Highly-decorated palm wine cups reflected the wealth and status of the owner and were also used by high priests during religious ceremonies. Cups made for rulers would typically be made in the shape of a human head with a distinctive hairstyle. This once belonged to the artist Jacob Epstein and it was donated to the museum by a friend of his.

Traditionally, the Kisii people of Kenya made soapstone pots to carry fat to protect their skin from the sun. Soapstone has been mined commercially in the Nyanza region of Kenya since the end of the 19th century, for making objects for export and sale as souvenirs. This bowl was once owned by Richard Arthur Poulden who worked for the Kenyan Prison Service in the 1920s.

Pende people, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa

Kenya, Africa

1920s

Poison ordeal cup

Brass kettle

This two-headed goblet is said to be a poison ordeal cup, used to give a poisonous herbal drink to a person suspected of witchcraft or other crimes, to find out if they were guilty. If the suspect vomited they were considered not guilty but if they became very ill or died they were believed to be guilty. The poison ordeal was a traditional practice over much of sub-Saharan Africa. It is similar to the European tradition of ducking witches.

This unusual kettle has an internal cylinder for putting in burning twigs or coals to heat the water.

Yeji, Ghana, Africa

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19th – early 20th century

East Asia, unprovenanced

?

Late 19th – early 20th century

Late 19th – early 20th century

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Lota, ablution jug

?

This was recorded as a teapot but it is more likely to be a lota or ablution jug, used for personal hygiene or for wudu which involves washing the hands, mouth, nostrils, arms, head and feet with water and is an important part of ritual purity in Islam.

Woven platter These mats are made of brightly-coloured sisal fibre wrapped around reeds. They were probably made for sale to tourists for the tourist markets.

Africa, unprovenanced

South Asia

?

Late 19th – early 20th century

Late 19th – early 20th century

Roman glass beaker Cyprus, Europe

About 2,000 years old

Woven placemats These mats are made of brightly-coloured sisal fibre wrapped around reeds. They were probably made for sale to tourists.

Northern Nigeria, Africa

Roman glass jug Cyprus, Europe

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Mid 20th century

About 2,000 years old

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Case

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Imfuko, tobacco pipe bowl The bowl of this clay pipe is modelled as an antelope.

It would have been fitted onto a long reed pipe. Men would smoke it with the bowl resting on the ground.

This type of pipe was pictured on Zambian postage stamps from 1970, part of a ‘Traditional Crafts’ series.

Sotho people, Republic of Zambia, Africa

Late 19th – mid 20th century

Wooden tobacco pipe Maori people, New Zealand, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th – early 20th century

An animal figure forms the bowl of this wooden pipe. The pipe combines Maori design and ancient motifs with European shapes learnt from imported clay pipes. It is thought that Captain Cook and his crew introduced tobacco smoking to the Maori people where it became a mark of status and part of gift giving.

This pipe was probably made for sale to Europeans.

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Reindeer antler tobacco pipe Probably made for sale to Europeans.

Sámi people, Northern Scandinavia, Europe

Early 20th century

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Tobacco pouch Sámi people, Lapland, Finland, Europe

Four glass pharmacy bottles Early 20th century

Morphine and opium were once widely available over-the-counter in UK pharmacies until they became controlled substances in the early 20th century. Morphine was first extracted from opium in 1817 and began to be sold to the public in the 1820s, as pain medication and a treatment for opium addiction; it later proved to be more addictive than opium.

Laudanum, a tincture of opium, was widely used in the UK as a cure-all from the 17th century.

Cope and Taylor Chemist, Market Place, Derby, UK, Europe

Late 19th – mid 20th century

‘Opium for Bruises’

Water pipe for smoking marijuana This cattle horn water pipe would have been used for smoking cannabis leaves or other psychoactive plants. The wooden reed would have had a stone pipe bowl on the end, the horn would be filled with water and the smoke inhaled from the horn. Pipe smoking was invented in Africa around 2,500 years ago, and cannabis was introduced from Asia around 500-1,000 years ago. Cannabis in southern Africa has been used in spiritual, medicinal and recreational contexts and as an appetite suppressant.

Zulu or Sotho people, Southern Africa

Morphine Hydrochloride cough lozenges The instructions on the label read ‘One to be taken several times a day, and immediately on retiring to rest; for a Child five years of age, half a Lozenge will be sufficient’.

‘Ferrier’s Snuff (without morphine)’

19th – early 20th century

Liquid Morphine Hydrochloride

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Drawer 1 Snuff (finely ground tobacco for inhaling) originated in Brazil, was first used in Europe in the early 16th century, and was introduced to Africa

by Europeans shortly afterwards. Most of the snuff containers here are southern African, where snuff taking was an important social and spiritual act, a means of communicating with the ancestors and of celebrating the generosity and status of individuals. Snuff is still used in southern Africa although it has slowly declined in popularity.

Ivory or bone snuff spoon Snuff spoons are used for inhaling snuff.

Zulu people, southern Africa

Late 19th – mid 20th century

Snuff bottle

Snuff container of carved horn in the form of a bearded man Bushongo people, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa

X-rays of this bottle show there are two seeds or pebbles inside, which were presumably put in to stop the powdered snuff clumping together, allowing it to come out through the narrow neck. There is also still some snuff inside.

Central Plateau, Nigeria, Africa

Late 19th – mid 20th century

Late 19th – mid 20th century

This highly decorative snuff box held the snuff within the figure’s cylindrical headdress.

Snuff bottle Zulu people, South Africa

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Late 19th – mid 20th century

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Pair of hippo tooth snuff bottles

Snuff bottle Shona people, southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Bead covered glass snuff bottle The beadwork of the Xhosa people is a highly skilled traditional craft originally using natural materials such as eggshell, seeds, nuts and wood before glass beads became available through trade.

Xhosa people, southern Africa

Central or southern Africa, unprovenanced

Late 19th – early 20th century

Ivory or bone snuff spoon and hair ornament Zulu people, South Africa

c.1860-1880

Late 19th – early 20th century

Pair of snuff boxes

Ivory or bone snuff spoon

These are made of wood carved to look like gourds.

Southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

The date 1751 is on the bottom of this box, and 1806 is inside the lid.

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Late 19th – early 20th century

Snuff bottle

Snuff box

UK, Europe

Zulu people, South Africa

Shona people, southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

18th century

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Pair of gourd snuff boxes with wire inlay

Snuff bottle Tsonga people, southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

These high quality snuff boxes with wire decoration would have been used on special occasions. They still have snuff inside. The stopper is the stalk of the gourd, which is a dried and hollowed out fruit.

Zulu people, southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Pair of snuff bottles Made from wood and cow horn and joined by a carved wooden chain.

Tsonga people, South Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Beaded gourd snuff boxes Zulu people, southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Armadillo tail snuff bottle Made from the tail of a South American armadillo, with silver mounts. Armadillo means ‘little armoured one’ in Spanish. People have used armadillo scales and shells to make various objects, including musical instruments.

South America, unprovenanced, probably Chile or Peru

Snuff tin

19th – early 20th century

This held menthol snuff, originally created for people with colds, manufactured by the chemist Hedges of Birmingham.

Birmingham, UK, Europe

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Early – mid 20th century

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Snuff bottle Zulu people, South Africa

Pair of beaded glass snuff bottles Late 19th – early 20th century

Snuff bottle Kenya (probably), Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Camel leather box Late 19th – early 20th century

Originally identified as a snuff box it is more likely that this is a trinket box. It is decorated with henna.

Tuareg people, North Africa

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Late 19th – early 20th century

Gourd snuff box

Snuff bottle Kenya (probably), Africa

Zulu people, southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

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Drawer 2

Lime spatulas

Betel chewing People have been chewing betel nuts for thousands of years in many Pacific Islands and Asian countries and it is estimated that 600 million people use betel nut today.

The nuts contain a psychoactive stimulant similar to nicotine. Betel is an integral part of many cultures, used during celebrations, rituals and ceremonies, for magic, trade and as a sign of friendship and hospitality. Chewing betel nuts causes a distinctive red staining of the teeth and mouth.

Lime was stored in dried-out gourds to be added to betel nuts when they are chewed. The lime spatulas were first licked by the user, then dipped into the gourd where the powder would stick. The lime is sucked off the spatula several times during betel nut chewing. The spatula was also used to add the lime to betel nut parcels ready for chewing.

Lime spatula Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Lime gourd Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th century

This gourd was used to store lime made from pulverised burnt seashells or coral. The lime is eaten in small quantities with betel nuts to increase the effect of the natural stimulant in the nuts.

“Its an honour to handle this when so many have touched it before, what a brilliant thing!”

Late 19th century

Lime spatula Clapper shaped handle.

Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th century

Neil, Abacus tattoo parlour

Lime spatula The handle is carved with a human figure.

Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

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Late 19th – early 20th century

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Cassowary leg bone lime spatula

Lime spatula

This would have belonged to a chief or other highranking person. The cassowary bird, native to Papua New Guinea, Australia and nearby islands, is now an endangered species.

The handle is topped with a carved human head.

Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th century

Late 19th – early 20th century

Lime spatula and betel mortar Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Lime spatula

Pacific Ocean, unprovenanced

Late 19th – early 20th century

Lime spatula The handle is carved in the shape of a canoe prow.

Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th century

Lime spatula

Lime spatula

The handle is carved with a snake.

The handle is carved in the shape of an animal, possibly a pig.

Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

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?

Late 19th century

Late 19th century

Massim people, Papua New Guinea, Pacific Ocean

Late 19th century

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Drawer 3 Tomahawk tobacco pipe European or Native North American people, North America or Europe

The tomahawk axe was adapted into a pipe either by European Americans or Native Americans in the early 1700s.

The head of the axe has a pipe bowl on the edge so it could be used for both ritual smoking and chopping.

It may have been more symbolic than practical, in that it combined the old and the new worlds, symbolising the coming together of two cultures. Tomahawk pipes were often traded by Europeans in exchange for fur and became status symbols within native groups.

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Opium pipe Late 18th – 19th century

China, Asia

18th – 19th century

A blob of sticky opium would be put on the pottery bowl and then heated upside-down over a flame to vapourise the opium. The long bamboo pipe cooled the vapour before inhalation. The little frog near to bowl is a sign of prosperity and considered good for the health in Chinese medicine.

The British opium trade lasted more than a century. Opium from India was sold to China in exchange for tea, the British protecting the trade by military force. Many people became addicted to opium causing widespread social problems and the Chinese authorities repeatedly tried to stop the trade. The trade finally ended in 1917.

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Red pill pipe After opium smoking was banned in China in 1906 people began smoking ‘red pills’, which contained a mixture of heroin and caffeine. Red pill smoking soon spread to other countries, particularly the USA. Red pill smoking had largely died out by the 1950s.

China, Asia

Early 20th century

Tobacco pipe stem This is the stem of a ceremonial pipe probably made by the Sioux people. The bowl would have been stone, like the red catlinite bowl in this drawer. The stem is carved with animal motifs. The Sioux believe that all natural objects including mountains, rivers, plants and animals have souls or spirits.

Native North American people, North America

Photo : Chevy-Jordan Thompson

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19th – early 20th century

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Chibouk tobacco pipe

Stone tobacco pipe bowl

This type of pipe is also known as a Turkish pipe and they were common across Turkey and the Middle East during the 18th and 19th centuries. The wood and reed stem is inlaid and gilded and an Arabic inscription on the pottery bowl is possibly the maker’s mark.

The mouthpiece is missing.

Made of red catlinite or pipestone, quarried in Minnesota by the Sioux people and traded to other Native American groups. Sacred ceremonial tobacco pipes play a key role in the spiritual and cultural life of the Sioux people and other Plains Indian tribes. The pinches of tobacco put into the bowl represent prayers of blessing for the universe and all creation. As the smoke rises these prayers become visible offerings.

Turkey, Europe/ Middle East, Asia

Tobacco pipe made from a leaf

Unprovenanced

19th century Native North American people, USA, North America

?

19th – early 20th century

18th – 19th century

Stone tobacco pipe bowl

Unprovenanced

?

Undated

Stone tobacco pipe bowl This sacred ceremonial pipe bowl is inlaid with a white metal.

Native North American people, North America

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18th – 19th century

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Stone pipe bowl

?

The shape resembles an animal hoof.

Native North American people, North America

18th – 19th century

Kiseru, tobacco pipe Kiseru are traditional pipes with very small bowls, used in Japan since the 17th century, after tobacco was introduced by the Portuguese in about 1570. Usually made of metal and bamboo they consist of three parts, the mouthpiece, stem and shank/bowl.

Japan, Asia

19th century

Tobacco pipe This fancy pipe has an amber mouthpiece and brass bowl and cover.

Bedouin people (probably), North Africa / Middle East, Asia

Porcelain pipe

East Asia, unprovenanced

Silver pipe

East Asia, unprovenanced

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19th – early 20th century

?

19th – early 20th century

Kiseru, tobacco pipe Japan, Asia

19th century

?

19th – early 20th century

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Xhosa tobacco pipe The Xhosa people of Southern Africa carved pipes from a single piece of wood from the common hook-thorn tree using hot wire to hollow out the stem. The length of the pipe and size of the bowl increase according to the owner’s social status. Although smoking has become less popular the pipes are still displayed in homes as symbolic links to ancestors and as part of traditional dress.

Xhosa people, Southern Africa

19th – early 20th century

Xhosa tobacco pipe Xhosa people, Southern Africa

Late 19th – early 20th century

Pipe smoking is a long established religious practice for the Xhosa people of Southern Africa as a way to communicate with the ancestors and seek protection from spirits. The pipes are therefore of great significance and often highly decorated, like this pipe in the shape of a man riding an ox.

Meerschaum cheroot pipe The small size of this pipe indicates that it was used for smoking cheroot cigars, which would be inserted into the bowl. This would avoid tobacco-stained hands and gloves. Meerschaum is a porous clay mineral, extremely popular for making carved pipes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Meerschaum pipes absorb tar and change colour from cream to orange to red the more they are smoked.

Europe, unprovenanced

19th century

Photo : David Edge

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Words offered by visitors This gallery is built on a foundation of shared experiences that were offered by thousands of people at the start of the project. The words are a mix of values, emotions and actions and they’ve shaped the way the collection is displayed and explained Here are a few that relate to this zone.

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bodies wellbeing anxiety body parts doctors hospital childbirth cooking water feeding chewing taste beer staying healthy old medicine licking out a yoghurt pot body showering brushing teeth human body

washing health hearts suffering hearing hearts survive bread yoghurt eating together digestive system black tea fresh naan basic needs poverty disease depression organs breathe sneezing genetics pooping bodily functions nurture tasting coffee sharing food personal care cuisine clean water hunger eating fruit farting 69

Glossary

Acknowledgements

Here are explanations of a few terms used in this guide

‘Objects of love, hope and fear’ has been coproduced with an amazing team of volunteers, visitors and partners. Our deepest thanks go to out to all of you for your generosity of time, knowledge, skill and energy.

BCE

An extra special thank you to:

Before Common Era (equivalent of BC ‘before Christ’)

Sheikh Qazi Abdul Mateen Al-Azhari

Alan Foord

Rajaa Sakhari

CE

Lisa Graves

Gaye Sculthorpe

Andy & Margaret Austen

Jeff Hallam

Lizzy Serieys

Common Era (equivalent of AD ‘anno Domini’, the year Christ was born)

Soshain Bali

Theresa Hempsall

Susan Sharif

Sheana Barby

Stephen Hill

Val Shelton

Richard Bartle

Anne Ishikawa

Christopher Simpson

Wendy Biz-Lage

Bali Jenkins

Alison Solomon

Ollie Brown

Lisa Kavanagh

Alice Southwood

James Bucklow

Zachary Kingdon

Celeste Sturgeon

Clare Calder-Marshall

Michelle Laverick

Jackie Taylor

Andrew Carrier

Steve Lockley

Jonathan Taylor

Richard Carter

Antonia Lovelace

Chevy J Thompson

Shannon Cherry

Emson Maneya

Tim Unwin

c.

Abbreviation of circa, a Latin word meaning ‘around’ or ‘about’

Pacific Ocean Islands in the Pacific Ocean east of Indonesia and Australia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Lia Colombino

The area south of the Saharan desert in the continent of Africa

Katarina Massing

Karim Vahed

Melissa Coons

Adam McCready

Shelagh Wain

Elspeth Cranston

Amelia Meran

Toni Walford

Unprovenanced

Ed Darby

Zagba Oyortey

Kat & John Woodward

Lubna Din

Oral Phillips

Sarah Worden

Dubrek Studios

Naomi Pierrepoint

Barbara Woroncow

Serene Duff

Helen Powell

Kerry Edwards

David & Janette Edge

Adeena Raslee

Hope Falk

Alison Englefield

Steven Pryce

Jade Foster

Catherine Falkner

Naomi Rubinstein

Margaret Wright

The object’s place of origin is unknown

Guide co-designed with Leach Studio. Published by Derby Museums 2018.

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