Hopewell. <em>Eagle Platform Pipe</em>, 1–400 C.E. Stone, lead eyes, 3 3/8 x 1 3/16 x 4 5/16 in. (8.6 x 3.0 x 11.0 cm). Anonymous loan, L49.3.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L49.3.1_profile_PS9.jpg)

Hopewell. Eagle Platform Pipe, 1–400 C.E. Stone, lead eyes, 3 3/8 x 1 3/16 x 4 5/16 in. (8.6 x 3.0 x 11.0 cm). Anonymous loan, L49.3.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L49.3.1_profile_PS9.jpg)

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Beautiful stone work! What tools would Hopewell artists use to chisel the stone with such detail and smoothness?

The Hopewell likely would have used other stones for their carvings. The smoothness indicates the use of rubbing, wet polishing, or sand.

Thanks! Is the bird made of a soft kind of stone, like limestone?

Though the Hopewell didn't develop bronze technology, they sure did accomplish great feats in stone and ceramics. This is a loan item and we haven't yet done extensive material analysis on this work. We do know that it is made of a harder stone.

Are there any other works nearby that catch your eye or mystify you with the way they were produced?

All of them in fact! I'm continuously amazed at the purely manual craft skills of people who lived several thousand years back!

I am as well! I couldn't imagine developing this technology myself! I'm always taken by the nearby Mimbres bowl. (It has an antelope and a man depicted in the center.)

The Mimbres people were some of the earliest people to develop reduction firings to achieve the black on white decoration, building an open kiln fire that was so hot it actually reduced the amount of oxygen within the fire. (If you're a ceramic nerd this is a big feat.)

Cool! And thank you for directing my attention to this beauty, its patterns and figures are incredibly delicate, the graphic parts reminds me of Art Deco almost!

I love the imagery of the Mimbres people myself. It's so mysterious because they vanished long before European contact, nearly all of their bowls depict these strange dreamlike scenes and a majority of them have these holes in the bottom.

Many have been found in graves, although we are not certain where this particular bowl was found, and scholars can only speculate what the holes might mean, or what the strange images are. One at the Met has a deer putting on an armadillo mask on for example.

That's fascinating! I bet it carries deep meaning that we just don't know today.

Eagle Platform Pipe

Arts of the Americas

In ancient times the hawk was associated with the noonday sun, forces of nature, and summer activities. This pipe bowl, which would have been attached to a wood stem, may have represented a family crest. Such a finely sculpted pipe bowl would have been treasured and given the clan owner great status. The smoke would have sent “prayers” into the sky and called down the sacred spirits.

CULTURE Hopewell

MEDIUM Stone, lead eyes

Place Found: Naples, Illinois, United States

DATES 1–400 C.E.

PERIOD Woodland Period

DIMENSIONS 3 3/8 x 1 3/16 x 4 5/16 in. (8.6 x 3.0 x 11.0 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER L49.3.1

CREDIT LINE Anonymous loan

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Carved stone pipe representing an eagle perched crosswise on a thin, curving platform. The bowl of the pipe is on the bird's back, and the stem is part of the platform. Wing and tail feathers are rendered in realistic detail but the rest of the body, feet and head are worked with minimal embellishment. Eye sockets are inset with lead. Such platform pipes are typical of the Hopewell culture, but this eagle is unique for the addition of the lead eyes and its very fine workmanship. There are a few equidistance tool marks cross- wise which make it unusual as well. Condition: excellent.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Hopewell. Eagle Platform Pipe, 1–400 C.E. Stone, lead eyes, 3 3/8 x 1 3/16 x 4 5/16 in. (8.6 x 3.0 x 11.0 cm). Anonymous loan, L49.3.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L49.3.1_profile_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE profile, L49.3.1_profile_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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