- Museum number
- Am1991,09.1
- Description
-
Pipe bowl, of translucent greenish-white soapstone, carved, incised and painted, with a single metal ear ornament. The bowl is carved in form of a man's head, deep mouth with downturned corners, prominent chin, long sharp Roman nose, eyes formed from two deep incised lines leaving a raised eye between; the mouth and eyes are painted red, the deeply carved nostrils are unpainted. Both cheeks are incised with similar designs which seem to represent a vertical bar or rectangle from which extend, towards the ears, feathers [?], each represented by an acute angled triangle, two on the figures right cheek and three on the figures left cheek. The side of the figure's right ear is incised with a spray of five feathers, much more featherlike than the triangles on the cheeks, perhaps with additional extensions, such as of hair, to the tips; the side of the figure's left ear is decorated with two incised lines, defining an arc, possibly filled with crude cross-hatching, joined at the top to two incised parallel straight lines extending onto the edge of the forehead. These incised decorations may represent tattoos, or painted decoration. The head is partially shaved, to form a central spray of hair, cut flat to form the top of the much used bowl. The ears, not realistically carved, are pierced for ear ornaments, horizontally. The ear ornament in the figure's right hand ear survives, roughly triangular, or more correctly a parallelogram, pierced with a hole for suspension, made of zinc, tin or silvered metal, the cord perhaps of a complex 19th century silk manufactured material. A further interesting detail is the clear delineation of a prominent Adam's apple. The flue has a roughly octagonal cross-section, with on the figure's left hand side the initials engraved on the vertical plane: 'I.T.' The end of the pipe bowl shows rather circular cutting marks, presumably, but not necessarily made by a metal saw. The two holes are conical in shape, suggesting that they were made with some form of aboriginal bow drill, rather than an imported-type European metal drill. The whole pipe has a very substantial patina, and is heavily marked.
- Production date
- 1600-1750
- Dimensions
-
Height: 9.50 centimetres
-
Length: 2 centimetres (of ear ornament)
-
Length: 10 centimetres
-
Width: 5.50 centimetres (at ears of head)
-
Width: 1.70 centimetres (max, of ear ornament)
- Curator's comments
- The pipe bowl is from the painter Benjamin West's studio, and was used as a model in both `Death of Wolfe' and `Penn's Treaty with the Indians'. See JCH King, 1991:`Woodlands Artifacts From the studio of Benjamin West 1738-1820', pp.
34-47 in `American Indian Art Magazine' 17[1]. See Rayna Green (ed) `The British Museum Encyclopaedia of Native North America' British Museum Press, 1999. see JCH King `First Peoples, First Contacts' British Museum Press 1999
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1992 14 Sep-31 Oct, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe, a Didactic Display
1993-95, London, Museum of Mankind, 'Treasures of the Americas'
1999 25 Jun-2007 Apr, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Northeastern Woodlands"
2007 9 Mar-10 Jun, Beijing, Palace Museum, Britain Meets the World: 1714-1830
2007-2013 July-August, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Northeastern Woodlands"
2013-2014 22 Sep-5 Jan, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, American Adversaries: West and Copley in a Transatlantic World
2014-2021 24 Sep-16 June, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Northeastern Woodlands"
- Condition
- Good.
- Associated titles
Associated Title: William Penn's Treaty with the Indians when He Founded the Province of Pennsylvania in North America (painting by Benjamin West, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia)
- Acquisition date
- 1991
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1991,09.1