A FINE HAIDA ARGILLITE SHIP PIPE

Details
A FINE HAIDA ARGILLITE SHIP PIPE
Of panel form depicting, a ship like structure with five rails, one figure at front and one on each side
7½in. (18.4cm.) long
Provenance
Sotheby's, New York, April 27, 1984, lot 76

Lot Essay

Wright (1996) writes: "More elaborately carved than lot 71 above, this small ship pipe may have been made by the same carver in the late 1830s or 1840s. A Euro-American seaman sits in front of the leafy billet head like a figurehead, holding a barrel-like object in his hands. Five slanted rails were once connected to a leafy top element, and a medallion with an eagle head decorates the stem end of the pipe. Two seamen stand on either side of the bowl, with one arm raised, and the other on the hip. There is a diagonal break behind the bowl, and the second rail back from the bowl with the adjacent leaves and flower have been restored. This restored flower was modeled after the original four-petaled flower on the side at the stem end."