This pipe was carved and built by Billy Bryan, 1942-2012, a third generation pipe maker and well-known Dakota Native.
Pipe is unused for smoking purposes. It measures about 6.35" long and about 3" tall. With the wooden stem, the total length is about 24".
Signed "Big Eagle" on the bottom of the pipe.
Purchased from a collector in Bellingham Washington this year (2022).
"When William “Big Eagle” Bryan died of a heart attack Oct. 14 at the age of 70 it marked the end of an era at the pipestone quarries.
Bill was a third generation quarrier and pipemaker. His parents, George “Standing Eagle” and Clara Bryan, both had a family history of pipemaking. George’s father, William Bryan, made pipes and so did Clara’s father, Moses Crow. Crow taught George the craft and George passed it on to his sons, William and Richard." from https://www.pipekeepers.org/