Pre-Columbian, southwestern Argentina or south-central Chile, Mapuche people, ca. 1500 CE. Two fine and intact pipes meant for smoking tobacco that are hand-carved from a hardstone of a lustrous brown and gray hue. The larger pipe has a conical bowl and vertically drilled opening as the receptacle and the cylindrical stem are drilled all the way through from the bowl to inhalation hole. The other pipe has a similar design with a conical handle or thumb rest just before the ovoid receptacle protruding from atop the midsection. Pipe forms like these were favored for ritualistic smoking and used as symbolic gifts exchanged between different cultural groups throughout ancient Chile and Argentina, and styles made in different regions have been found far afield from their lands of origin! Size of larger pipe: 3" L x 0.75" W x 1.5" H (7.6 cm x 1.9 cm x 3.8 cm)

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-private Bettina Schwimmer collection, Chicago, Illinois, USA, collected from 1955 to 2006

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#156994

Both are intact with only minor nicks and surface abrasions. Light mineral and earthen deposits within the receptacle hole on both.