Pipe Bowl and Stem
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Four animals revered for their sacred power—the turtle, mountain sheep, buffalo, and elk—are carved in exceptionally high relief on this pipe stem. Their reductive, abstract forms give the animals an iconic presence and indicate the sure hand of an unnamed master carver. The finely proportioned, T-shaped pipe bowl is typically found on Plains pipes from the later half of the 1800s. Artists made pipes for use within the community as well as for trade or sale to an outside market.
Artwork Details
- Title: Pipe Bowl and Stem
- Date: ca. 1890
- Geography: United States, South Dakota
- Culture: Probably Oglala Lakota (Teton Sioux)
- Medium: Catlinite (red pipestone), wood, pigment
- Dimensions: Pipe bowl: 4 1/4 × 8 in. (10.8 × 20.3 cm)
Pipe stem: 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm) - Classifications: Wood-Implements, Stone-Implements
- Credit Line: Collection of Richard Pohrt Jr.
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing