Lot 96
Mississippian Steatite Raptor Effigy Pipe
Mississippian Steatite Raptor Effigy Pipe
Current Bid: $1,100
(3 Bids)
Native American, Mississippian culture, ca. 800–1500 CE. A compact and commanding raptor effigy pipe carved from dark steatite, its compressed teardrop body tapering to a keel-like belly while a hooked, predatory beak juts forward in alert profile. The sculptor has reduced the avian form to its most essential gestures: a rounded cranium, a sharply downturned bill suggestive of a hawk or falcon, and a streamlined torso whose dense black surface drinks in the light. Across the body, small discs of iridescent nacreous shell sit flush within the stone in a measured rhythm, scattering the figure with pale lunar accents. Two larger annular roundels of deep red catlinite, the sacred pipestone of the upper Midwest, punctuate the flanks like solar bosses, their bored centers possibly registering the breath passages of the pipe and almost certainly invoking the cosmological pairing of sky and earth, raptor and sun. Bird effigies of this kind belong to the broader Mississippian visual lexicon of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, in which raptors served as messengers between the upper world and the realm of human ritual, their hooked beaks and piercing gaze emblematic of warrior power and celestial sovereignty. Smoked in council and ceremony, such pipes channeled prayer through avian intercessors, the spiraling tobacco smoke rising as the bird itself was thought to rise. The convergence of imported nacre and quarried catlinite within a single steatite body speaks to the long-distance exchange networks that bound the Mississippian world, in which raw materials traveled hundreds of miles to be reunited within objects of concentrated spiritual charge.. 1.6" W x 5.4" H x 2.9" D (4.1 cm W x 13.7 cm H x 7.4 cm D); 6.4" H (16.3 cm H) on included custom stand.
A comparable Mississippian steatite pipe in the form of a bird hammered $17,500 (equivalent to $25,358.88 today) at Sotheby's New York on May 16, 2012 ("American Indian" auction, lot 61).
Please note this item may fall under the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act and may not be eligible for international shipping. Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian objects are only eligible to ship within the United States.
Provenance: private Colorado, USA Collection; ex-private Denver, Colorado, USA collection; ex-private Flushing, New York and Ridgeway, Colorado, USA collection
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Item #
203017
- Condition: Very Good. Some chipping and areas of loss to inlays, as well as light scratches to surface of steatite. Otherwise, very nice with scattered encrustations in recessed areas.
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| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $299 | $25 |
| $300 | $999 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $1,999 | $100 |
| $2,000 | $4,999 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $9,999 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $19,999 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 | $49,999 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $99,999 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $199,999 | $10,000 |
| $200,000 + | $20,000 |