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Pipe bowl and stem
Pipe bowl and stem
Pipe bowl and stem
These relatives, a pipe bowl and stem, have probable connections to the Anishinaabe. Both composed of wood, the pipe bowl is carved in the shape of a ball headed club with lead inlay, while the stem is quill wrapped. Although the precise date of creation is not certain, this pipe bowl and stem were collected by British Army officer Jasper Grant between 1800 and 1809, at which time he was stationed in Canada during his military service.
These relatives currently reside in the National Museum of Ireland.
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power: Kleinburg, On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.
Read More About This Relative
Bowl: wood (maple); lead inlay
Stem: wood wrapped in porcupine quills, red, blue-green, yellow; sinew; metal band; animal hair, yellow and red-dyed.
Bowl: wood lined with metal inlaid over bowl opening in shape of sun.
Stem: Quill braided over sinew in two-quill plaiting technique; double metal band at each end. Tuft of animal hair attached to mouth end with sinew.
Bowl is carved as an effigy of a ball headed club, sun shaped inlay
The motif of the ball headed club suggests war related ritual use
Jasper Grant served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit from 1800-1809.
Provenance
Jasper Grant (1762-1812), Anglo-Irish officer who spent 9 years in Canada between 1800-1809. Served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit. It is likely that his wife, Isabella Grant, played a significant role in the collection of items given her close relationship to Madeline Askin Richardson, the daughter of a prominent fur trader and merchant with extensive ties to the surrounding Indigenous communities.
GRASAC researcher notes from research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 22, 2010.
In 1984-1985 the Jasper Grant Collection was featured in a special travelling exhibition for the Ontario bicentennial, which was organized by the McMichael Canadian Collection and entitled "Patterns of Power."
Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.
Philips, Ruth B. (1986-87). “Jasper Grant and Edward Walsh: the Gentleman-Soldier as Early Collector of Great Lakes Indian Art.” Journal of Canadian Studies 21(4): 56-71.
About This GRASAC Record
Maker, Name unrecorded. Pipe bowl and stem. GRASAC ID: 27151. National Museum of Ireland Collection, 1902.353.
This record was augmented by Dana Murray on Dec 1, 2024. It was informed by the notes and photographs collected during a GRASAC Research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 22, 2010. Participants included Alan Corbiere, Ruth Phillips, Crystal Migwans, and Nicholas Stolle, who were assisted by Padraig Clancy and Emma Crosby.
42.107, -83.1132
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984. Fort Malden is identified on the map as a possible origin for this relative, but this reflects only one place where the relative may have lived. It is not a known place of origin; it is only one location associated with where the collector, Jasper Grant, served in the British Army.