Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
1993.033.001 |
Object Name |
Bowl, Pipe |
Title |
The White Rose Pipe Bowl |
Lexicon category |
3: Personal Artifacts |
Credit line |
Donated by the Stevens Family |
Date |
pre-1842 |
Year Range to |
1842 |
Made |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Germany? |
Description |
Ceramic effigy-style pipe bowl of a devilish character (Mephistopheles). The pipe bowl is made of a fine clay, and is molded in great detail. The character has pointed ears, and is wearing a neck ruff. This pipe bowl apparently had a miniature pipe for the character's mouth, but this is no longer extant. It once had painted colouration (red and black) but this has worn away over the years. There is no pipe stem with it anymore. |
Makers mark |
There is a molded mark on the underside of the bowl, as yet unidentified. |
Provenance |
Unknown. Likely made in Europe? Prior to Dec. 12, 1842, it was reportedly owned by a First Nations man (name unknown) who lived near the new settlement of Sydenham (which later became Owen Sound, Grey County, but then was called the Village of Sydenham). It may have been a trade item or gift that he had obtained. The Newash Ojibwa band (Anishnaabe) lived near the Sydenham settlement. This First Nations man gave it as a gift to the William Carson (W. C.) Boyd family at some point during a three-day celebration held for the newborn Eliza Boyd, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Carson Boyd, and it was passed down as a family heirloom. The First Nations people in attendance had dubbed baby Eliza "The White Rose". [Source: Deans, Dorothea, "Indians Smoked Peace Pipe When WHITE ROSE Born Sydenham Village in 1842, THE DAILY SUN-TIMES, Owen Sound, Sat. Nov. 14, 1936.] A ceramics researcher at the Royal Ontario Museum wonders if it might be younger than the 1840s, perhaps an 1860s?+ item. Eliza Boyd later was married to Capt. J. R. Walker. Last owned by John H. Stevens who inherited the item. |
Collection |
Tobacco Accessories Collection |
Material |
Ceramic/Paint |
Dimensions |
H-7.7 W-4.5 L-6.7 cm |
Found |
Ontario |
People |
Stevens, John H. Boyd, William Carson Walker, Eliza |
Subjects |
Ojibwa Anishnabe First Nations Trade Goods Smoking Tobacco Tobacco pipes Pottery |
Search Terms |
Ojibwa (Anishnaabe, Anishnibeg) Owen Sound Newash Ojibway Newash Reserve |
Function |
Intended to be a man's smoking pipe for tobacco, but was given as a gift to a newborn baby in Grey County. |