This is a fine example of a late trade pipe, of solid construction and depicting a popular theme: the confrontational interaction of bear and men. It is rather similar in theme to a contemporaneous pipe illustrated in Drew and Wilson’s Argillite: Art of the Haida (p. 164). Our example depicts what appears to be a recumbent shaman, his feet in the mouth of a bear who holds him firmly by his legs, and his head or headdress held by a human. The action seems almost more ritualistic than confrontational. The shaman holds a fish and a rattle in his hands; the pipe bowl features a rather expressionistically carved human face.

References: See the chapter on late trade pipes in Peter L. Macnair and Alan J. Hoover, The Magic Leaves: A History of Haida Argillite Carving, (Victoria: Royal BC Museum, 1984/2002), pp. 119-126. For other examples see Leslie Drew and Douglas Wilson, Argillite: Art of the Haida, (Vancouver: Hancock House Ltd., 1980), pp. 164-165.