North America, Middle Woodland period, ca. 200 to 1000 CE. A gorgeous dark grey / slate black stone platform pipe, with nice russet inclusions, its bowl in the form of an expressive face of a spirit, comprised of impressed areas for eyes and mouth, with partially pierced details. Platform pipes exemplify smoking technology during the Middle Woodland period. These pipes were not just made for the simple act of smoking; they had a strong religious component as well, and various archaeological sites from the period, such as the Hopewell Mound sites, have the remains of hundreds of destroyed platform pipes, including effigy ones like this. Others were buried with their owners individually. Effigy platform pipes are believed to be spirits or totemic animals from Native cosmology. Size: 5.75" L x 2.75" H (14.6 cm x 7 cm); 4.375" H (11.1 cm) on included custom stand.

Smoking pipes seem to have played an important role in Eastern Woodland culture, which spanned from sub-Arctic Canada to the southern United States. The earliest evidence we have for the use of tobacco in this area comes from ca. 100 to 200 CE; in addition to tobacco, and often prior to it, we know from ethnohistorical accounts that people smoked a variety of other plants, including dogwood, juniper, sumac, and bearberry.

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection acquired before 2000

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#122239

Expected surface wear and minor nicks to peripheries commensurate with age, but overall very good. Evidence of root marks and mineral deposits.