pwaagan, pipe bowl

pwaagan, pipe bowl

pwaagan, pipe bowl

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Introduction

This relative is an Anishinaabe black steatite pwaagan (pipe) bowl with lead inlay, decorated with a kneeling woman holding a pipe on one side and a moose on the other side. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANS) lent it to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1936, where it currently resides. 

Name of Maker(s): Maker unrecorded
Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe
Nation of Origin

Based on style and museum documentation.

Date Made or Date Range: Before 1936
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Museum documentation and observations made by the GRASAC research team.

Materials

black steatite; pewter

Techniques or Format

Black steatite with a multiple scalloped band of pewter inlay below the bowl rim and on the sides of the stem end of the tube. It has a high bowl with straight, slightly expanding sides. A thin, vertical slab on top of the tube is decorated, on one side, with a moose carved in low relief, and on the other, a kneeling woman holding a pipe.

Motifs and Patterns

A moose and a kneeling woman holding a pipe.

Dimensions: 19.2 × 4.5 × 9.5 cm
Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 97-84-964 (Penn number); L-84-964 (old museum number); 10474 (ANS number)
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/226884
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1936
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Gift of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1997
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Before 1936
Collection Narratives and Histories

This relative was lent to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in 1936, by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It was officially gifted to the Penn Museum and was accessioned in 1997.

Publication History

Maurer, Evan M. The Native American Heritage: A Survey of North American Indian Art. Chicago, IL: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1977. (See: Page 126-127/Fig 134)

GKS Reference Number: 24551
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Pwaagan, pipe bowl. GRASAC ID 24551. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 97-84-964.

Record Creation Context

This information was gathered during a GRASAC study visit, participants: David Penney, Ruth Phillips, Stacey Loyer, William Wierzbowski, December 3, 2009.
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on February 1, 2025.

Source of Information about Places

Based on style and museum documentation.

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