Leslie Drew and Douglas Wilson described late trade argillite pipes by how the artist might have made them:

[T]he carver heavily embellished the pipehead [sic] with crest and legend figures. Often, he chose companion figures—Raven and Killer Whale, Bear and Man, twining neatly around or behind the bowl. Multi-figure elbow pipes of this kind closely resemble three-dimensional group figurines, just as some elbow pipes wander off into the panel form [1].

They remarked that this form of argillite pipe was shaped into a thicker and more durable form so it could endure the rigors of being purchased and carried home by tourists on steamships [2].

The present late trade pipe fits their description with an almost uncanny precision, as if it were the very object before them. Figures gather across its surface in a restless chain, each one biting into the next or clinging with deliberate tension. From the stem emerges Raven, followed by a seated Human, then Killer Whale, then Human Child pressed to one side, then another seated Human, and finally Bear anchoring the base. The carving is alive with detail. The wings of Raven spread into crisp formline. The pectoral fins of Killer Whale glisten with careful incisions. The hair of the seated humans is cut into fine striations, and they appear to wear garments that drape like aprons across their bodies. Though the pipe carries the marks of age and wear, it remains a finely wrought testament to Haida artisans’ skill in the late nineteenth century.

1. Leslie Drew and Douglas Wilson, Argillite: Art of the Haida, (North Vancouver, B.C.: Hancock House, 1980), p. 164.

2. Ibid.

FA