Canakkale 19th - Blackamoor Tobacco Jar

Pottery blackamoor tobacco jar in the form of a black African man’s head, his hair as the lid (Çanakkale Turkey, late 19th – early 20th century). Blackamoors have a long history in decorative art and it stretches all the way back to the 17th century. Moor’s were a type of black Africans that were captured and sold into slavery, mostly on the European market. The craftsmen of Çanakkale have copied similar tobacco jars of European origin (private collection, Athens Greece).