The curved, tapering shape of this snuff container, with its chimerical antelope head finial, reflects the original shape of the horn from which it was made. This type and style was typically seen in containers coming from Lesotho but also beyond its south and southeast border, ranging into the Eastern Cape region. The lower end usually became the cavity of the container, and was sealed with a disk of wood or calabash, while the peak was shaped into a number of different configurations. These include abstract geometric forms, stylised human shapes and animal forms, including this example, being the horned head of an antelope.

Shaw has identified these ‘antelope’ shaped snuff boxes as Tembu and Basuto. One example that closely resembles the piece presented here is included in Shaw and Van Warmelo’s 1988 publication and is identified as Xesibe from the Mt Ayliff area of what was then the Transkei, now the Eastern Cape.

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