Exhibit Label

Early in the argillite carving tradition, Haida artists began experimenting with exotic subject matter. At the time this pipe was carved, it was becoming popular to combine native Haida themes with figures and motifs that were part of the strange new world being opened by traders and seamen. The foreigners themselves became the subjects, and their accoutrements and equipment, even their ships, found places in this art form. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)