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Plains pipe tamper

Titles: Plains pipe tamper (Supplied title)

Description: A Plains, possibly Lakota or Dakota, ornate wooden pipe tamper, circa the late 19th century or earlier. It was reportedly bought by a St. Paul man from Lakota chief Sitting Bull; the tamper is also said to have been carved by Sitting Bull. The lower half of the tamper is straight, narrowing to a blunt point. The upper half is carved at the top with the shape of a face which narrows to a platform roughly the same diameter as the top of the face. The platform narrows again to another platform serving as the top of a hollow segment with four spindles encasing a small black ball. The bottom of this encasement is wrapped with twine, securing it to the lower portion of the tamper. Two wooden rings are secured in the two narrow areas above the encasement.

Dates

  • Not later than 1889 (Year object was donated to the Minnesota Historical Society.) (Content)

Creation

Identifiers

  • Accession Number: 581.E173

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

  • Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

  • 32 inches length
  • 1 1/4 inches diameter (widest point)

Subjects

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