Pipe in the Form of a Man (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
This captivating sculpture, so beautifully designed and skillfully carved, has the posture of a power figure—standing erect, with the hands at the sides of the stomach—like the large community-power figure on the pedestal to the right. Like the power figure, this pipe has a hole in its bulging stomach for herbal medicines, in this case tobacco or some other smoking material. The strongly abstracted forms, almost streamlined in design, are characteristic of one regional style of Songye art, of which this work is an exceptionally fine example.
From the Robert and Nancy Nooter Collection, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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