Argillite Figure "Sea-Captain"

Item number E2413-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "ELABORATELY CARVED OF BLACK CLAY SLATE; THE FIGURE, PRESUMABLY OF A SEA CAPTAIN, DRESSED IN A FORMAL FROCKCOAT, WITH A VISORED CAP. THE FACE IS CARVED OF IVORY AND FASTENED INTO THE SLATE HEAD. *THIS NUMBER IS LISTED IN THE ORIGINAL CATALOGUE BOOKS AS BEING A SLATE PIPE. HOWEVER, IT IS TO BE USED FOR THIS SPECIMEN. HEAD BROKEN OFF; CAP BROKEN: REPAIRED, 3/13/51 RAEJR. RE-REPAIRED JULY, 1974. REPRODUCED BY ALVA STUDIO, OCTOBER, 1974."Attributed to U.S. Exploring Expedition/Wilkes collection on the catalogue card, however Jane Walsh doubts that attribution. Object was entered into the Anthropology catalogue ledger book January 5, 1867. Per Jane Walsh, the argillite figure of a sea captain doesn't appear on any of the U. S. Exploring Expedition official lists of objects. Also, the U. S. Exploring Expedition only collected argillite pipes, and one argillite figure, a woman that we no longer have in the collections. The only thing we really know about the two captain figures (other one - formerly E2414 - is now in The National Museum of Denmark collections) is that they came into the SI in the 40 cart loads of material from the "Government Collections" in the Patent Office in 1858. So it could be they are from the National Institute, or from the War Department, or it might be that they were collected for Spencer Baird by James G. Swan.Per Stephen Loring, this sea captain figure probably depicts a Yankee sea-captain or so-called "Boston Man."