Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Michoacan, ca. 500 BCE to 300 CE. A beautiful pottery smoking pipe with a receptacle shaped like a miniature vessel with a bird projecting from the side. The long stem has a small pin sized inhalation hole on the tip, and the stem leads into the receptacle bowl. The bird is perched in the end of the stem with its wings outstretched and beak resting on the bowl rim. A shorter stem projects from the front of the bowl, perhaps for grip or to support the pipe when at rest. The exterior of the bowl and bird are detailed with incised lines. Smoking pipes played an important role in Mesoamerican society. 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. These pipes were not just made for the simple act of smoking; they seem to have had a strong religious component as well, often found in ritual caches. Size: 3.5" L x 1.5" W x 2.5" H (8.9 cm x 3.8 cm x 6.4 cm)

Provenance: private Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA collection; ex-Dr. David Harner collection, Springdale, Arkansas, USA, acquired between the 1950s and 1960s

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#163596

Repaired, shorter stem reattached with visible break line and infill where stem meets receptacle body. Loss to surface of receptacle shoulder. Light mineral and earthen deposits.