Tobacco Bags - Eastern Cape

"Ingxowa or Ikhubalo"

                                   Red Blanket Valley - Pg 140                                                    Nelson Mandela

                              Tobacco bag vendor - Circa 1950

The Fengu or Mfengu, Thembu and Xhosa all used tobacco bags. Over time, they developed into body adornment, as did the use of a pipe itself. A person was socially out of step if not in possession of either of these decorative items.

 Women Tobacco Bags

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Both men and woman's tobacco bags were made from white cotton baize. In earlier times, some were made from hide. Bags were decorated with cotton braid and / or beadwork. In the case of the example above, leather beaded goat hide streamers with colorful rings decorated either side. Woman  carried a supply of home-grown tobacco leaves and a pipe in the bag. She might also include a small mirror, a tin of snuff, a tinderbox for lighting, matches and a handkerchief tied in a knot containing her shopping money.

Ivy Albums - Lynn Accutt - Circa 1900 - Woman lighting pipe from flint stored in a tinderbox.
 

Heavily beaded tobacco bags of Tembu origin follow.

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Tobacco bags were hung from a strap over the shoulder and rested on the wearer’s hip. Tassels on woman's tobacco bag were shorter then those found on men's. They might be  made from leather, cord, or cotton wool and were often beaded.

Men's Tobacco Bags

                                Joan Broster - Red Blanket Valley - Page 18                         Barbara Tyrrell - Thembu at Qwathi

 Though women wore traditional dress more often than men, men out did the women when they wore theirs.

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These Thembu male tobacco bags date to the 1950's - 1960's and were called "ikhubalo".

The example on the left was collected in the Hershel District, while the very large center example and that on the right were collected in Quebe, an area in and around Joan Broster's RED BLANKET VALLEY.

Circa 1960's - 1970's Postcard

For men, the tobacco bag became a garment. So much so that two or three might be held or worn on special occasions.

In our view, this is the most exceptional example of a Thembu tobacco bag available on the market today.

Note it has three sealed, beaded, leather pouches on each side of it's leather streamers - contents unknown.

Photographed at Mbiza between 1904 and 1905 at Uncle Van Vasco da Gama van Blommenstein Trading Store.

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Mfengu Tobacco Bag

Ingxowa Bokwe

This tobacco bag was made from a reversed goat hide .

These over the top tobacco bags were used by men to carry home grown leaf tobacco and other items, but their main intent was to add to the wearers adornment. 

                                    Annals of the South African Museum Volume 58  March 1988 Part 4             Ezakwantu - Beadwork from the Eastern Cape

                                                               The Material Culture of the Cape Nguni                                                          Fig 58 - Page 105

                                                 Part 4 Personal & General by E.M.Shaw & N.J.Warmelo

The Magic World of the Xhosa - Page 34 - Aubrey Elliot

Aubrey Elliot wrote; The man’s bag is quite different and more masculine. It is made from a wild domestic animal’s skin. The particular skin used, to some extent, owes its popularity to the fashion in a clan in the same way as does the pattern by which it is made up. In the Ncera area, near Kidd’s beach where I lived as a child, the popular bag was a tubular one made of monkey skin. In other areas goat skins are used for this purpose.

This is the most highly decorated example known to us. It is overloaded with beadwork, bells, coins and thimbles, all adding sound and visual impact to an article that was and is a total eye opener.

The tail of the backpack heavily adorned on both sides.

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