Pre-Columbian, southwestern Argentina or south-central Chile, Mapuche people, ca. 1500 CE. This is a fine example of a pipe meant for smoking tobacco, hand-carved from a hardstone of a lustrous dark walnut hue. The pipe has an ovoid bowl and vertically drilled opening as the receptacle, and the cylindrical stem is drilled all the way through from the bowl to inhalation hole. A handle or thumb rest just before the receptacle protrudes vertically at a ninety-degree angle from the bowl. Pipe forms like this 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: 3.5" L x 0.65" W x 2" H (8.9 cm x 1.7 cm x 5.1 cm)
Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995 to 2010
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#139283
Condition
Minor nicks and chips around the bowl opening. Surface abrasions and pitting, as expected with age and use, otherwise intact and excellent! Mineral and earthen deposits within bowl.