Accession Number

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Description

Argillite pipe with two human figures and dog. [CAK 19/05/2010]

Display History

Lent to the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, for the exhibition 500 Jaar Tabakscultur, 9 October 1992 to 9 October 1993. [JC 5 7 1996]

Longer Description

Argillite pipe with two human figures and dog. The bowl is carved as the head of a European male with pointed nose and wearing a hat that extends far backward. The figure has a collar with triangular designs located where the bowl meets the stem of the pipe. The stem of the pipe is round, straight and decorated with two figures standing on top of the stem. The figure nearest the bowl is a European male reclining with his back against the extended hat. His arms extend forward and grab on to the paws of the dog at the top of a plain post. The dog is standing upright, facing the male. Its tail reaches the stem of the pipe, and its face is carved with flat ears and slightly parted mouth. [CAK 19/05/2010]

Primary Documentation

Accession Book Entry - MISS CLEMENCE M. ACLAND, ... Banstead, Surrey. Specimens collected by her father, CAPT. F. E. D. ACLAND, her grandfather, SIR HENRY ACLAND, some time Regius Professor of Medicine in the University of Oxford, and the REV. JOHN BODGER...Carved pipe of black shale stone, the bowl in the shape of a human head, straight stem, on the stem the figures of a man and a big dog facing each other, both holding an angular ?beam standing obliquely on the stem, the man's figure strapped to the bowl by means of a broad loop and attached to his back and passing round the forehead of the bowl. Length 7 5/8", height 3 1/4". The style of the carving exhibiting white man's influence. Colld. by Sir Henry Acland on his visit to CANADA with the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII, in 1860. Probably WEST COAST, BRITISH COLUMBIA.'
Additional Accession Book Entry - 'To 1943.6.141/142. The hybrid style of the carving of these two pipes, which is so much at variance with the genuine style of HAIDA shale stone work, and strongly suggestive of European influence, appears to be identical with that of the shale stone carvings in the Balfour coll. bequ. 1939, Nos. 2212/2213 (Balfour cat. 5, p.137/138). They were labelled by Professor Balfour: "Stone carvings from BRITISH COLUMBIA".' In a later hand is added: 'As these are argillite, they are attributed to HAIDA.
[on facing page] 67-5-5 is written in red. [MR 5/6/2000] [sic]

?Card Catalogue Entry - Carved pipe 'of black shale stone', the bowl in the shape of a human head, straight stem, on the stem the figures of a man and a big dog, facing each other, both holding an angular ?beam standing obliquely on the stem, the man's figure strapped to the bowl by means of a broad loop band attached to his back and passing round the forehead of the bowl. [?LMM 1990 8]

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This pipe was viewed alongside other argillite carvings on Tuesday Sept 15, 2009. The face at the front of the pipe was identified as a ship's captain, while the animal figure was described as a dog. Diane Brown explained that it is possible to tell the figure is European by the shape of the nose. Nika Collison reported seeing a very similar pipe - perhaps even the same design - executed in wood at the Peabody Essex Museum. Delegates commented that dogs were present before contact and trade links were established, and that as a general rule dogs appear truer to form when carved in argillite than in other media. One delegate commented that this is a Meerschaum style pipe. Natalie Fournier added that argillite gets more brittle as it ages.
A group discussion about argillite raised the following points. Argillite is only carved on Haida Gwaii. It is a natural resource of the islands, is very brittle and difficult to carve. Black is the most common variety, but rarer red and brown varieties also exist. It requires a skillfull hand to carve it successfully. In addition to early trading, argillite served an important purpose during difficult years in Haida communities. Even when not skillfully executed, argillite allowed carvers to record stories and oral histories, like previous generations did in wood before them; they were able to preserve a significant amount of information that might otherwise have been lost. Argillite also provided a medium for Haidas to be satirical about the Europeans they were encountering. [CAK 19/05/2010]