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Lot 120A
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Mississippian Caddo Pottery Effigy Pipe - Long-Stem Feline
Mississippian Caddo Pottery Effigy Pipe - Long-Stem Feline
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Native American, Caddo, Mississippian culture, ca. 1000–1500 CE. A long-stemmed clay pipe coaxed from burnished earthenware, its elbow bowl swelling upward like a closed bud above a slender, gently tapering shaft. Midway along the stem a small modeled protrusion rises, perhaps the head of a crouching feline rendered in spare, abstracted relief, lending the otherwise austere form a watchful animacy. The smoke-darkened surface speaks to use, the clay fired to a deep umber and smoothed by hand. Pipes of this elongated form served the ceremonial and social rituals of the Caddo peoples of the Trans-Mississippi South, where tobacco smoke carried prayer and sealed alliance. Functional yet quietly sculptural, the piece balances utility against the maker's instinct to enliven a tool with the suggestion of a living creature. Size: 1" W x 1.8" H x 8.4" D (2.5 cm W x 4.6 cm H x 21.3 cm D).

The Caddo flourished across present-day eastern Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma during the Mississippian period, building mound centers and producing some of the most refined ceramics of the American Southeast. Long-stemmed clay pipes are a hallmark of this tradition, used in rites where tobacco smoke was understood as a conduit between human and spirit worlds. The effigy convention, a creature emerging from the stem or bowl, transformed an everyday implement into a vessel of cultural meaning.

Provenance: private Colorado, USA Collection; ex-private Denver, Colorado, USA collection; ex-private Flushing, New York and Ridgeway, Colorado, USA collection, acquired in September 2004 via private seller

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Item # 203153

  • Condition: Good. Mouthpiece has been professionally reattached with break line just barely visible. Nicks and abrasions in areas as shown, commensurate with age. Heavy encrustations to interior of bowl blocking hole to stem. Otherwise, nice presentation with good remaining detail.

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by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Artemis Fine Arts

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Bid Increments
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$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