Idol Pipes: Review of Examples

Collecting ancient North American stone artifacts began during the eighteenth century, if not earlier. One of the earliest illustrations of a collected artifact may be seen in Luigi Castiglione’s Viaggio. This work is a narrative of the botanist’s 1785-1787 travels in the United States. A Cumberland fluted point is shown in his Plate IV (Pace 1983: 38). The spear-point may have been presented to Castiglione by distinguished naturalist, Manessah Cutler — a resident of coastal Massachusetts who hosted his Italian colleague.

Of somewhat more recent vintage are several impressive, large ground stone axes with find-spots and dates in the first quarter of the nineteenth century painted upon them that once resided within the Dorothy Middleton (Nelson) Collection. The Middleton Collection contained many thousands of ethnological specimens (Figure 1) plus scores of sub-collections of stone tools from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in North America. Groups of artifacts appear to have been gifted to Ms. Middleton for display in her private Thunderbird Museum, which was open to the public during decades before and after WWII.

Jump link: Figure 1 and 2

Among Dorothy Middleton’s holdings was a curious ceramic or smoothly finished stone pipe of a seated male human figure, legs extended, holding a bowl. The bowl was meant to contain a smoking mixture; while, a stem for the smoker’s mouth was inserted between the figure’s feet (Figure 2). This pipe is attributed “to a mound in Tennessee” (Kirk Spurr, personal communication). It belongs to a class of smoking pipes, known as “idol pipes” – a term that according to McGuire (1899: 541) was first applied to them in 1873 by Georgia archaeologist, Charles C. Jones (1873: 401).

What inspired Jones to coin the term may be guessed. It is my belief that he may have likened pipes with figures holding bowls (pots) to the molded “rain god” statuettes made at Tesuque Pueblo, northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico (Figure 3). The trade in these little ceramic figures has early roots (Tanner 1968: 166; Anderson 2002), and they were carried far and wide during the late nineteenth century — if not earlier. Too, Jones might have been familiar with African ritual figures of wood, well-known for the Luba people of the Congo, for example, that show a seated or squatting person holding a vessel in the lap or upon the knees (Figure 4). Artifacts from the Congo collected by Christian missionaries and brought home at the end of their term of service would have fascinated an anthropologist like Jones.

Jump link: Figure 3 and 4

Whatever the inspiration, the term “idol pipe” is somewhat a misnomer. We do not know if the figure holding the pot or bowl was a mythical being, a hero, god or just a commoner. The fact that the figure on many idol pipes is looking upward at ascending vapors when the pipe is held in a smoking position is an obvious convention. Its meaning must have been well understood by both the pipe’s sculptor and the smoker. Perhaps the “idol” was meant to represent the smoker himself making a religious offering of tobacco smoke? Tobacco ceremonialism has deep roots in eastern North America (Gramly 2006), and it may have been introduced from Meso-America along with the sacred calendar – the tonalamatl (Gramly 2008).

Based upon a review of standard texts treating Native American mythology (e.g., Alexander 2005, Curtis 1987), it seems unlikely that the human figure on idol pipes was meant to portray a culture-hero or god-like being nor is it connected with a specific tale. Since the archaeological contexts of most idol pipes are inexactly known or went unrecorded, there is little help with interpretations to be had from that quarter. In point of fact, we are unsure if idol pipes were personal property and accompanied individuals to the grave. I know of no idol pipes with attributions to specific archaeological features; at best, provenience is to a mound, an archaeological site, or a farm. It is a possibility that idol pipes were communal property, used by many smokers, and not deposited within cemeteries.

Idol pipes are generally regarded as artifacts at home in the Southeastern United States (e.g., Miles 1963: 218) but rare even there except at major sites and mound centers. Therefore, reports of their occurrence outside Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama should be regarded with healthy skepticism. Some of the pipes discussed here at one time were owned by collectors in Michigan, New York, and Massachusetts. It is doubtful that these artifacts were, in fact, discovered upon archaeological sites in those states; it is interesting to speculate how they may have entered collections so far from their native hearth.

One possible mechanism that caused the dislocation of idol pipes is looting during the Civil War. As cited by West (1970: 187), in 1859 the archaeologist Charles C. Jones observed three fine idol pipes that had been plowed up at Etowah, near Cartersville, northern Georgia. The pipes were part of a collection at the residence of a Col. Tumlin. These same pipes disappeared in 1864 or shortly after the invasion by General Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee. Two of the Tumlin idol pipes recollected by Jones, both fashioned of steatite (soapstone), later surfaced in the collection of Gates Thruston who published them for the first time (1890: 184-186). Thruston, it should be noted, served with the Union during the Civil War.

Perhaps the only idol pipe ever discovered in Michigan (West 1970: 185 and frontispiece; see Figure 5 here) was, in fact, another spoil of war looted from a collection like Tumlin’s? Union regiments in the Army of the Tennessee were drawn from several states including Michigan, as for example, the 15th Regt. Michigan Volunteer Infantry. (See michiganinthewar.org/infantry/15thinf.html.) The incredible tale about this sandstone pipe being plowed up in 1885 on a farm in Calhoun County, Michigan (Brown 1905: 108-9) may have been fabricated to mask its true origin. By 1885 a full generation had passed since the Army of Tennessee marched through Georgia and memories of events may have faded and principal actors were deceased.

Jump link: Figure 5, 6a and b

Likewise, another sandstone pipe with equally clouded origins (the Morgan/Weiss pipe) turned up in a household sale in rural Pike County, upstate New York, during the 1920s. This specimen (Figure 6a and b), which is remarkably like the Calhoun County, Michigan idol pipe in terms of style and execution although differing somewhat in the attitude of its figure, was on exhibit with other ancient Indian artifacts for many years at a Pike County fair building.

Finally, a third sandstone pipe (the Wistariahurst pipe) — similar enough to the idol pipes of Michigan and New York to have been made by in the same workshop if not by the same hand — turned up at auction in Massachusetts during 2007 (Figures 7a-c). It was once part of a late nineteenth century Massachusetts collection that was gifted to The Museum of Natural History and Art, at the Holyoke Public Library, Holyoke, Massachusetts, during the first decade of the twentieth century. Its vintage, then, is equivalent to the Michigan and New York pipes. In the Museum’s catalogue this pipe is attributed to Lee Co., Va.

Jump link: Figure 7a-c

An hypothesis that these three sandstone idol pipes may have survived a terrible march through Tennessee and Georgia and afterward even longer journeys by foot or railcar back to the Mid-West, New York and New England might cause some readers to scoff. Yet, stranger things have happened during wartime. These fine pipes would have been appreciated then as they are now and carefully curated.

Idol pipes are scattered among North American collectors and museums with no more than two or three examples per collection. For the purposes of this study, attributes of 23 specimens are presented in Table 1.

Where the sex of the figure on the pipe can be ascertained, it is almost always male. The sole pipe showing secondary female characteristics is attributed to the Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma (Hamilton 1952). Another feature that is characteristic of most idol pipes (19 of the 23 in our sample) is the position of the figure, which faces the smoker rather than away towards onlookers. In the few cases where the figure faces away from the smoker, as for example the pair of Tumlin Collection pipes described by Jones and illustrated by Thruston, the stem hole through the rear/back of the figure tapers rapidly towards the pipe-bowl.

Another common attribute (17 of 22 pipes) is that the figure is portrayed looking upward. The metaphor of allowing tobacco smoke to ascend to a plane above an earthly one is obvious, but its exact meaning is conjectural.

The idol pipes in our sample are about equally divided between figures holding pots or bowls and figures holding elbow pipes. Among the latter group, however, the pipe-bowl is usually sculpted to resemble a fired earthenware vessel with a pronounced collar or rim. The pots or bowls on some idol pipes are very exactly modeled and may exhibit strap handles, usually a pair, bridging lip and shoulder. The perforation under the strap handles could have been used to attach decorations to the bowl or to tie the pipe-stem itself – keeping it from being lost.

As for more minor details — such as hair style, facial features, definition of the upper and lower limbs, etc. – we note considerable variation. Transcending their significance perhaps, is the observation that some details are exactingly sculpted in relief; while, on other pipes features are simply indicated by incising. Idol pipes with simpler, incised features are sometimes branded as modern forgeries, although there are no a priori grounds for such an opinion.

Stone of various sorts (sandstone, soapstone or steatite, ironstone, etc.) apparently was favored over ceramic for idol pipes; however, no premium seems to have been set upon the use of precious or exotic raw materials. This fact alone suggests that there once may have existed idol pipes made of wood. Likely these pipes were devoid of copper decorations and bowl liners, as some examples would have been preserved by contact with metal salts.

That idol pipes were important to late prehistoric societies in the Southeast cannot be doubted. We could make more sense of this class of artifacts and appreciate its significance, if only there were more facts about their discovery, better photographs and proper measurements. It is surprising how few idol pipes have been adequately documented – despite their being known to archaeologists since the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The neglect in recording provenience and other facts, which I perceive has been intentional, stems from a view that idol pipes are fantastic, modern creations. Familiarity with pertinent literature, scattered though it may be, reveals this view to be erroneous.

Table 1. Attributes of Sample of Idol Pipes
Collection	Description	Dimensions	Raw Material	Publications
1. Ben Thompson	“Zimmerman pipe;” male figure looking upward holding plain pot above knees, extended legs	Unknown	Unidentified stone	Unpublished
2. Frank McClung Museum	Bell site (TN) pipe; male (?) figure looking upward holding pot (with 2 strap handles) at feet, extended legs	L.= 7.9 cm	“Hematitic stone”	Brose et al. 1985: 177
3. Alabama State Museum	Figure of unknown sex with missing head holds pot (with 2-3 strap handles in lap, legs folded under	Unknown	Ceramic	Krebs et al. 1986: 103
4. U.S. National Museum	Hollywood Mound (GA); male Hollywood Mound (GA); male figure with legs folded under and looking upward holding plain vessel in lap, stem hole to rear rather in front	Unknown	Soapstone	McGuire 1899: 541 (Fig. 163)
5. U.S.N.M.	Monroe Co. (AR) mound; crude figure of unknown sex looking upward holding pot with incised lines on knees (?), legs folded under (?), stem hole to rear (?)	L.= 4 ½ inches	“Imperfectly crystallized quartz”	McGuire 1899: 541 (Fig. 164)
6. Reading Public Museum & Art Gallery	Figure of unknown sex with extended legs holds bowl or perhaps an elbow pipe at feet, figure looks towards smoker (stem hole to front)	L.= 5 inches	Unknown	Fundaburk and Foreman 1957: Plate 102
7. Jon C. Griffin	Bibb Co. (GA); two opposed male figures grasp bowl which rests upon their laps, figures look slightly upward while straddling pipe-stem	Ht. (est.) = 2 ½ inches	Ceramic	Griffin 1989: 40
8. Unknown	“Spiro Mound” (OK); female with extended legs holds pot or perhaps en elbow pipe at knees; figure looks straight towards smoker – not upward	Unknown	“Stone”	Hamilton 1952: 35-6, Plate 14
9. J. Weiss (EX. Holyoke, MA)	“Wistariahurst pipe;” seated male figure looking upward holding pot with two strap handles on knees	L.= 16.5 cm (6 ½ inches)	Sandstone	Unpublished
10. J. Weiss	Weiss/Morgan pipe collected in Pike Co. (NY); seated male figure in contorted posture looking upward holding pot with two strap handles above knees	Ht.= 14 cm (5 ½ inches)	Sandstone	Unpublished
11. R. Sisson & Ohio Hist. Soc.	Athens Co. (OH); upward looking figure of unknown sex holding bowl at knees (lower legs and bowl also form elbow pipe)	Unknown	Berea sandstone	Weidner 1996: Sisson Coll.; Don Gehlbach, pers. comm..
12. C. Miles (?)	Seated figure of indeterminate sex holding plain pot between knees and looking upward	Unknown	Steatite	Miles 1963: 174-5, 218-9
13. Unknown	Ferguson Mound (MS); upper torso with arms holding pot/elbow pipe, figure looking up	Unknown	Unknown	Griffin (after Brown) 1052: Figure 143
14. Milwaukee Public Museum	Calhoun Co. (MI); seated figure of unknown sex holding necked pot above lap, figure looking upward	Ht.= 17 cm (nearly 7 inches)	Sandstone	Brown 1905: 108-9; West 1970: 656-7
15. Milwaukee Public Museum	Hodges Ford, Clinch R., Claiborne Co. (TN); possible seated male figure with extended legs, looking upward and clutching plain pot resting upon knees	L.= 6 inches	“Fine-grained sandstone”	Brown 1905: 108; West 1970: 185, 656-7
16. N.E. Carter (?)	Knox Co. (TN); seated male figure looking towards smoker holding pot with two strap handles in lap, legs extended	L.= 10.4 cm (four inches)	Steatite	West 1970: 185, 668-9
17. Heye Found., NMAI	“Clarence Moore pipe,” Gahagan, Red River Parish (LA); kneeling male figure holding pipe in lap, figure looking at smoker	L.= 8.9 cm (3 ½ inches)	Ceramic	Moore 1913: 515-6; West 1970: 186, 660
18. NMAI (exhibted 2004 — see Fig. 8 here)	Fig. 8 here) holding vessel with two strap handles upon knees, figure looking upward and sporting elaborately braided ponytail (Figure 8)	Unknown	Stone	Unpublished (see Fig. 8)
19. NMAI (2004 exhibition)	Damaged and reworked male figure holding vessel that is also an elbow pipe before knees, figure looking upward with wrapped ponytail	Unknown	Stone	Unpublished
20. Formerly Dorothy Middleton Coll.	“Mound in TN;” seated male figure looking towards smoker and holding vessel that is also an elbow pipe between knees	Est. L.= 10-12 cm (4-5 inches)	Ceramic ?	Unpublished but see Fig. 2
21. Peabody Museum (Harvard)	“Prince family pipe,” Moundville (AL); kneeling figure, perhaps a male, holds pot in lap while looking upward; collected before 1875 and well documented	Ht. = 5 ½ inches	Stone	See Moore in Knight 1996: 29-30
22. Gates Thruston Coll., Tennessee State Museum, Nashville	Tumlin Coll., from base of mound at Etowah, Georgia; seated figure with lower legs missing holding strap-handled vessel with four lugs, figure looks upward, stem hole in rear	Ht. = est. about 4 inches	Steatite	Thruston 1890: 184-185
23. Gates Thruston Coll., as above	Tumlin Coll., from base of mound at Etowah, Georgia; crudely modeled, seated figure with lower legs missing grasping plain bowl and looking upward, stem hole to rear	Ht. = 5 ½ inches	Steatite	Thruston 1890: 185-186

 

 

2005 (1916)

Native American Mythology. Dover Publications. Mineola, N.Y.

 

2002	When Rain Gods Reigned. From Curios to Art at Tesuque Pueblo. Museum of New Mexico Press. Santa Fe.

 

1985	Ancient Art of the American Woodland Indians. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. New York.

 

1905	The Aboriginal Pipes of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Archeologist 4 (3 and 4). Madison.

 

1926	Archaeology of Mississippi. Mississippi Geological Survey. University, MS.text

 

1987	The Indians’ Book. Bonanza Books. New York.

 

1957	Sun Circles and Human Hands. Luverne, Alabama.

 

2006	The Hopewell connection: Drug lords along the Ohio. Ohio Archaeologist 56(3): 10-18.

2008	Turkeytails, funeral observances and the sacred calendar. Ohio Archaeologist 58(1):

 

1952	Archeology of Eastern United States. The University of Chicago Press

 

1989	A Lamar culture pipe. Ohio Archaeologist 39(3): 40.

 

1952	The Spiro Mound. The Missouri Archaeologist 14. Columbia.

 

1996	Who’s Who in Indian Relics No. 9. Columbus, Ohio.

 

1873	Antiquities of the Southern Indians. New York.

 

1996	The Moundville Expeditions of Clarence Bloomfield Moore. The University of Alabama Press. Tuscaloosa.

 

1986	Ten Thousand Years of Alabama Prehistory. Alabama State Museum of Natural History Bulletin 8. Tuscaloosa.

 

1899	Pipes and Smoking Customs of the American Aborigines, Based on Material in the U. S. National Museum. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution (1897), Part I: 251-646. Washington, D.C.

 

1963	Indian and Eskimo Artifacts of North America. Bonanza Books. New York.

 

1913	Some Aboriginal Sites in Louisiana and Arkansas. Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadephia Volume XVI.

 

1983	Luigi Castiglione’s Viaggio. Travels in the United States of North America 1785-87. Syracuse University Press.

 

1968	Southwest Indian Craft Arts. The University of Arizona Press. Tucson.

 

1890	The Antiquities of Tennessee. Robert Clarke and Co. Cincinnati.

 

1970 (1934)

Tobacco, Pipes and Smoking Customs of the American Indians. Greenwood Press, Publishers. Westport, Connecticut.

 

Figure 1. Interior of Dorothy Middleton’s (born 1903) Thunderbird Museum, Moorestown, New Jersey (near Philadelphia) showing small portion of her ethnological and archaeological collection. 1947 photograph. Photo courtesy of O. Kirk Spurr, PhD. Jump Back	Figures 2. View of an idol pipe “from a mound in Tennessee” that formerly was part of the Dorothy Middleton collection. Photo courtesy of O Kirk Spurr, PhD. Jump Back
Figure 3. “Rain gods,” manufactures of Tesuque Pueblo, New Mexico. After Tanner (1968: Figure 6.13). Approximate heights = 7 inches. Jump Back	Figure 4. Wooden “idol” holding a vessel, Luba, southern Zaire (Congo). Figures of this sort were used by shamen for holding ceremonial ointment. Height = 40.5 cm (16 inches). Author’s collection. Jump Back
Figure 5. Massive sandstone pipe (height = 17 cm, seven inches), purportedly plowed up in Calhoun Co., Michigan in 1885 (Brown 1905: 108-9; West 1970: 656 and frontispiece). This specimen may have originated in Georgia or Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Susan Otto and the Milwaukee Public Museum. Jump Back	Figure 6a and b. Top and side views of the Morgan/Weiss idol pipe of sand-stone, which was for many years on exhibit at the Pike Co., New York fair. The pipe was purchased by John Morgan among attic contents of an household sale in Pike. J. Weiss collection, height = 14 cm (5 ½ inches). This specimen could have originated in the Southeast, perhaps northern Georgia or southern Tennessee. R. M. Gramly photographs. Jump Back
Figures 7a-c. Views of a well-finished, sandstone pipe, height 14 cm or 5 ½ inches, that was formerly in the collection of The Museum of Natural History and Art, Holyoke, Massachusetts, with an entry in their catalogue reading – “large rain god pipe, Lee Co., Va.” Now in the J. Weiss collection. R. M. Gramly photographs. Jump Back	Figure 8. Idol pipe of stone with elaborate ponytail; 2004 photo (through glass by D. Vesper), National Museum of the American Indian. Jump Back