Carved and Inlayed Spiral Pipe Stem Item Number: 50.67.93 from the Brooklyn Museum
Description
(center in photograph)This ash wood pipe has the length carved in a spiral. Decorations along this are made with lead inlays; a fish appears inside one of the spiral curves, and the flat section on the end has four thunderbirds inlaid on one side and two buffalo heads and two animals (bears?) on the other side. The spiral section is further decorated with burn marks from a searing tool.
Credit Line
Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund
Label
The Jarvis Collection of Native American Plains Art
The articles in this case and the adjacent clothing case are some of the earliest and finest Eastern Plains pieces in existence. They were collected by Dr. Nathan Sturges Jarvis, a military surgeon stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, between 1833 and 1836. He purchased some of the objects, while some may have been given in exchange for his medical services. These works display indigenous people’s ingenuity in combining trade materials such as cloth, metal, and glass beads with traditional hides, red pipestone, and porcupine and bird quills.
Item History
- Made between 1800 and 1825
What
Where
- Holding Institution
- Brooklyn Museum
When
- Creation Date
- between 1800 and 1825
Other
- Location
- American Identities: A New Look, American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Visions and Myths of a Nation, 1800–1890, 5th Floor
- Classification
- Ceremonial