Tabakpfeifenkopf
- Kamerun [Land/Region]; Oku [Ethnie]
- Hans-Joachim Koloß (Collector)
September 1901. As part of the “Eight-Nation Alliance”, Germany had defeated China in the Boxer War. The unusually tough peace conditions were designed to humiliate China, and demanded “atonement”. To this end, Prince Chun II headed a delegation to Potsdam and Berlin as a representative of the Chinese court.
His baggage contained valuable gifts from his country for the German Kaiser and his wife, including this vase. But German diplomats refused to accept his gifts. Chun II responded by offering the precious objects to museums in Berlin.