pwaagan, pipe bowl and stem

pwaagan, pipe bowl and stem

pwaagan, pipe bowl and stem

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Introduction

This relative is a pwaagan or a large wooden pipe bowl with engraved designs and a puzzle stem that does not fit the hole in the bowl. The pwaagan is decorated with fish, serpentine, hourglass motifs. It is probably Anishinaabe, attributed to mid- nineteenth century by comparison with a similar pipe collected in 1861. It was purchased from a collector named Osborn on April 14, 1902 by Charles H. Stephens. After his death, Stephens' collection was left to his son D. Owen Stephens, whose wife, Mrs. Owen Stephens, sold it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1945 where it currently resides. 

Name of Maker(s): Maker unrecorded
Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe Other
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

Stephens' catalogue card lists the pwaagan as being Sioux.

Could be Anishinaabe or Minnesota Dakota (David Penney).
Stylistic features: the chip carving along one edge, the asymmetricality of design, the chained lozenge motifs and style of the engraved images. There is also a resemblance in scale and in the use of wood to Chief Paqua's pipe bowl (Missisauga). It is also reminiscent of the puzzle stem and one piece pipes in NMAI and Hunterian. The engraving style is also seen on Minnesota Dakota materials dating before the 1860s.

Date Made or Date Range: 1850s
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

The information in this record is based on museum documentation

Materials

wood (the catalogue card states the stem is made of ash); paint, red and blue-green paint.

Techniques or Format

An elbow shaped pipe bowl with a curved contour. It has shallow convex surfaces and is engraved motifs which are different on both sides. The motifs are filled with blue-green and red pigments. There is a line of eight small holes inside the bowl which may have been for attachment of lead inlay. The stem is a flat puzzle stem pierced with hourglasses, circles, and rectangles, with the interior surfaces coloured with vermillion pigment. On each side, a band of hog-file finished wood runs longitudinally along the centre.

Motifs and Patterns

Fish; a serpentine line with a spiral at the end; three leafed motif, triangles (?); a three-leafed clover; chain of seven lozenges or diamonds; highly stylized fish (sturgeon?) over the clover; hourglasses; circles; rectangle.

Other Notes

The fish motif could be a dodem, a symbol associated with family ties.

Dimensions: 53 × 3.5 × 0 cm
Condition: Very good, but it appears to be missing a lead inlay that was once attached to the bowl's rim.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

The style of engraved motifs on the bowl and the use of red vermillion pigment bear a close resemblance to Penn 45-15-1422, collected in 1861.

Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 45-15-1423A (stem); 45-15-1423B (bowl)
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/589917
Collection at Current Location: Charles H. Stephens Collection
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1945
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Purchased from Mrs. Owen Stephens, daughter in law of Charles Stephens, 1945
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Before 1902
Collection Narratives and Histories

This relative was purchased from a collector named Osborn on April 14, 1902 by Charles H. Stephens. After his death, Stephens' collection was left to his son D. Owen Stephens, whose wife, Mrs. Owen Stephens, sold it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1945 where it currently resides.

GKS Reference Number: 24507
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Pwaagan, pipe bowl and stem. GRASAC ID 24507. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 45-15-1423A & 45-15-1423B.

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