pwaagan, pipe bowl

pwaagan, pipe bowl

pwaagan, pipe bowl

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Introduction

This relative is a black stone pwaagan (pipe bowl) with a flaring bowl, rectangular shank, and short pointed prow with lead-inlay in geometric patterns of parallel stripes. Although the precise origins of this relative are not clear, it has probable ties to Anishinaabe. 

This pwaagan was collected by Charles Hallowell Stephens on June 20, 1904, from a Philadelphia collector named Osborn. His whole collection was left to his son D. Owen Stephens, whose wife sold it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1945, where this relative currently resides.

Name of Maker(s): Maker Unrecorded
Maker role: Artist
Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe Ojibwe
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

The pwaagan is likely Anishinaabe. Stephens also noted it might be Ojibwe.

Date Made or Date Range: 1820s to 1850s
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

The information in this record is based on museum documentation.

Materials

grey-black pipestone/steatite?, lead inlay

Techniques or Format

There are four bands of lead inlay around a slightly flared bowl, the shank has two narrow bands of lead inlay, then six wider bands crossed at right angles by a central band, to form pattern of rectangles, tapering, pointed prow extension comes to a point

Motifs and Patterns

The inlay is done in parallel bands or stripes and rectangles.

Other Notes

Alan Corbiere - the four bands around the bowl related to the four levels of the sky in Mide belief, or possibly the four directions; David Penney: the significance of the five wider bands could be to isolate the rectangles as significant shapes. Alan Corbiere: Eddie King speaks of the five levels of the manitous

Dimensions: 15 × 9.5 × 6.5 cm
Condition: It is in good condition.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

On the accompanying catalogue card, it says, "from collection of O [Osborn] 1857."

Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 45-15-1395
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/16371
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, 1945.
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Possibly 1857
Collection Narratives and Histories

This relative was collected by Charles Hallowell Stephens on June 20, 1904, from a Philadelphia collector named Osborn. His whole collection was left to his son D. Owen Stephens, whose wife sold it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1945, where this relative currently resides.

Source for Provenance information

Museum documentation.

GKS Reference Number: 26138
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Pwaagan, pipe bowl. GRASAC ID 26138. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 45-15-1395.

Record Creation Context

This information was gathered during a GRASAC site research visit by Alan Corbiere, David Penney, Stacey Loyer, Ruth Phillips and William Wierzbowski (curator) on December 2, 2009.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on March 26, 2025.

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