Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Pipe Bowl Illustrating Pawnee Myth
Not on view
The boy gazing at a bear on this pipe bowl illustrates a well-known Pawnee myth about a boy who obtained supernatural blessings from a grizzly bear that, in turn, derived its power from the sun. Native artists sometimes created a series of closely related pieces, and this pipe bowl is one of three nearly identical versions made by the same master carver. The posture of the seated figure is strikingly similar to the singular Caddoan carving seen earlier in the exhibition and dating from the 1700s or earlier.
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