Kuripe in green and blue: a thread-wrapped applicator for rapé
A kuripe is the small pipe you use to take rapé on your own. Rapé is a finely ground blend of herbs, tobacco and ash that indigenous peoples of the Amazon have used for a long time. The shape barely changes from maker to maker: two tubes joined at an angle so they form a V. You hold one end to your mouth and the other to a nostril, which keeps the force and the direction of the blow in your own hands. When somebody else administers the powder, a longer pipe called a tepi is used instead.
On this piece the two tubes are pale wood and the triangular centre is wrapped turn over turn with thread in greens and blues, which reads as a pattern of broad and narrow stripes. A short cord carrying a few seed beads hangs from the point. Every piece is wound by hand, so the order and the width of the stripes can come out slightly differently from the photo. You receive one kuripe from the green and blue range.
Using it and keeping it clean
Load a small amount of rapé into the end that goes to your nostril, bring the other end to your mouth and blow once, briefly and under control. Repeat for the second nostril if you want to. Start with less than you think you need, because a kuripe delivers the powder far more directly than its size suggests. Tap the tube out after use and wipe the channel dry so it stays clear, and keep the wrapped thread away from water, since dyed textile takes up moisture.
Which kuripe suits you
Material decides most of it: bamboo is the lightest, wood sits in the middle, copper is the heaviest and the most hard-wearing. Alongside this coloured version, Avalon Magic Plants carries the bamboo Kuripe Peru, the wooden Kuripe Mahonia, the Tagua Kuripe and the copper Geometric Kuripe, as well as rapé blends such as Tsunu, Matico and Bobinsana. Everything leaves the warehouse discreetly packed.
