Antique Blackened Red Clay Pipe Bowl with Face folk art relief carved portrait and with an old piece

and with an old piece of hardened bubble gum stuck to the bottom

care and attention to fine detail

including the inclusion of the crank at front

proscribes a system of "Vertical Writing"

I might be as inclined to lay it on a tabletop with a piece of glass over it as to hang it on the wall

Antique Blackened Red Clay Pipe Bowl with Face folk art relief carved portrait and with an old pieceI know this blackened redware pipe bowl was found in Virginia and dates to the late 19th very early 20th century. I don't believe it is Native American, but think the face was meant to represent a Native American warrrior, with incised patterns crossing the cheeks to suggest war paint. To my eye, an extremely soulful face it is, with those marks reading equally as tears, and lowered eyes and pointy chin enhancing a sense of sorrow or mourning. There