tobacco-pipe
- Museum number
- Am1949,22.80
- Description
-
Smoking pipe bowl, of maple (?) wood, carved in the form of a wolf [so indicated by the long tail], sitting on its hind legs, crouched forward, front paws on knees, and head between legs facing the smoker. The cylindrical bowl is situated coming out of the back of the wolf, with the tail running up the outer edge of the bowl. The flue end and bowl top are both covered with copper, pegged to the bowl in the case of the bowl rim. Beneath the bowl rim are six concentric incised lines running down the bowl. The tail is inlaid with four pieces of roughly rectangular abalone shell, the top one pierced for suspension, as part of a previous artefact reutilised here. The teeth, eyes and ears are also inlaid with California abalone. The flue end is octagonal in cross section, and is also decorated with five incised lines running round the pipe. The whole pipe is carved with an exceptional vigour and mastery, the face with detailed expression including inset eyes with delineated lids, broad band eyebrows, and flaring nostrils detailed over an incised upper lip line. The paws feature incised digits. The real excellence of the sculpture lies in the openwork conception of the figure, along the stomach, with the rib cage shown, and the area under the knees carved out. The pipe is much used.
- Production date
- 1780-1880 (?)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 9 centimetres
-
Length: 14.50 centimetres
-
Width: 5 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Attached label '847' (Oldman probate list number). This may be a Tlingit clan pipe. (JCK,4/10/1995, plus additional description etc.)
Register 1949:
North West Coast.
Oldman Collection.
See ETH DOC 1307.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1977 15 Dec-1978 30 Oct, Museum of Mankind, Room 9; Smoking Pipes of the North American Indian
2003 15 Dec-2009 Jun, BM, 'Living and Dying'
- Condition
- Good.
- Acquisition date
- 1949
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1949,22.80
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 847 (Oldman probate list no.)