Tobacco Bags - Eastern Cape

Ingxowa / 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.

Woman's Tobacco Bags

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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Tassels on woman's tobacco bag were shorter then those found on men's. They were made from leather, cord, or cotton wool and were more often then not beaded.

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 Tobacco bags might be hung from a strap over the shoulder to rest on the wearer’s hip, or worn on the chest.

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, when worn, men's attire outshined that of the women. Men added a number of tobacco bags to compliment their outlandish attire. Leather or cotton streamers were treble the length "or more", when compared to those woman wore. 

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These male Thembu 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 the one to the right were collected in Quebe, an area in and around Joan Broster's RED BLANKET VALLEY.

Circa 1960's - 1970's Postcard

Men wore the tobacco bag like a garment. They confirmed status and wealth.

In our view, this is the most exceptional example of a Thembu 20th century male tobacco bag available anywhere. 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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