Índia Carajá Fumando o Cachimbo Feito da Fruta do Raricocó

Van Emelen's portrait of a Karajá woman smoking a pipe made from the fruit of the raricocó plant is one of the most ethnographically precise images in his Ipiranga Museum series. The specific identification of the pipe's material — the fruit of the raricocó — indicates close observation and genuine curiosity about indigenous material culture rather than generalised representation. The Karajá were a culturally distinct people of central Brazil, and van Emelen's attention to the specific objects and practices of his subjects makes these portraits valuable documents of indigenous life at the turn of the twentieth century.

The composition centres on the woman and her pipe, with the specific shape of the raricocó-fruit pipe functioning as both cultural identifier and compositional element. Van Emelen's handling renders the sitter's features and the distinctive object with equal observational attention.