Archive for October, 2023
MORE on BLACK PIPE #2 ~ How The SIOUX Brave returned to South Dakota.
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I RECEIVED AN EMAIL on September 24, 2023 FROM:
Kevin James Kirby in California
Dear Mr. Leininger,
Greetings from California. I would like to thank you for your excellent website on the artist Hermon A. MacNeil. I found the information therein both interesting and helpful.
That said, the real reason why I am writing is to alert you to the fact that I am about to sell a
very rare 1894 bronze sculpture of
Black Pipe.
It is only the second presently known to be in existence
(the other being well documentedon your website).
To this, I replied the next morning that I was VERY interested in purchasing this rare MacNeil piece.
Later I received a response from Kevin:
Good morning Mr. Leininger,
Thank you for your reply. And how fortuitous that Black Pipe is so present in your thoughts!
My wife (PhD in art history ) and I (Bachelor of Science in sculpture) are both keen enthusiasts of art and history.
We have read almost all the associated literature, and have discussed this piece with various academics and institutions.
Indeed, Black Pipe’s is an incredible origin story — as is MacNeil’s.
KEVIN WENT ON TO OFFER SOME
VERBAL PROVENANCE OF THE PIECE
As part of our private research, I have also been in direct contact with the
Lakota Sioux Nation at Standing Rock.
I was lucky enough to visit the Reservation in 2020,
and inquire directly about Black Pipe.
There I met an elder who remembered hearing about Black Pipe, who apparently was a member of the Rosebud Reservation, just south of Standing Rock.
However, unfortunately, the timing of the pandemic
necessitated the closure of the reservations, andprevented further research;
and I have been unable to return since.
Needless to say, the story embodied within
this sculpture is close to my heart!
And it is not lightly that I let go this artwork to a new owner.
However, as our private collection grows, it moves in new directions…
So … WE MADE THE TRANSACTION!
Kevin packed up this
“BLACK PIPE THE SIOUX AT SIX TEEN YEARS”
BLACKPIPE THE SIOUX: Carefully packed by Kevin Kirby and ready for shipment to SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota.
NOW … MACNEIL’s 1st bronze ~ BLACKPIPE ~
rests proudly Between a mini
PONY EXPRESS
(MACNEIL’S LAST BRONZE – 1940)
and a mini of Jo Davidson’s FDR
With Jo Davidson’s “unique bronze bust”
of his first studio teacher
HERMON ATKINS MAC NEIL
looking on from the other side.
BLACK PIPE (1894) and PONY EXPRESS (1940)
ARE MACNEIL’S alpha & omega
of bronze works …
They are side by side now.
James Kirby comments:
“Wonderful to see Black Pipe
“in pride of place”
(as my British wife says)
properly ensconced in your
impressive collection!
Thank you for sharing these photos with us.
ALL very happy!“
Related Images:
BLACK PIPE ~~ MacNeil’s 1894 Roundel ~~ Only 2 Exist
Posted by: | CommentsThis website has found the
ONLY TWO BLACK PIPE
Roundels in existence.
BLACK PIPE #1 – Found by this website in 2017. Made in 1894
BLACK PIPE #2 – Found by this website in 2022. Made in 1894
“BLACK PIPE ONE” WAS FOUND ON
THE EAST COAST (Massachusetts);
“BLACK PIPE TWO” WAS FOUND ON
THE WEST COAST (California)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Below is the 2017 Story of Discovering
BLACK PIPE #1.
The next post tells the 2022 Story of
The Discovery of
BLACK PIPE #2
⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓
Related Images:
BLACK PIPE, the SIOUX, Returns to South Dakota on “Native American Day” ~ ~
Posted by: | Comments2023
After 130 years, Black Pipe, the Sioux, has returned to South Dakota, on “Native American Day” ~ ~ now “Indigenous Peoples Day.”
“BLACK PIPE, THE SIOUX, AT SIX TEEN YEARS.” These words are what MacNeil wrote on this bronze roundlette, a bas-relief, circa 1894.
This piece, one of only two known to exist, [CLICK HERE for the other] 
dates to 1894 and was possibly cast in bronze by its sculptor:
Hermon MacNeil
Now it resides in
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA
at the home of the webmaster.
Hermon MacNeil’s BLACK PIPE work was a product of lean days. Following the closing of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, both artists and Fair workers had tough times. In 1894, Hermon found himself “stranded” in Chicago.
For a while, he earned meals in exchange for drawing sketches of patrons in a Chicago restaurant. (He learned that livelihood while traveling through France years before). Eventually, his prospects would begin to improve.
Fifty years later after a lifetime of sculpting, remembering that era of his life, he wrote:
“I finished my work at the “Chicago Fair” and it (The Fair) was a great success. The best combination of buildings in the then prevalent classic style, ever put together for any Fair.
I took a small studio in Chicago and tried to see if I could make a go of it. C. F. Browne was also stranded there and I invited him to share the studio with me. During that year (evenings) I was asked to teach sculpture and drawing in the School of the Art Institute and also had the good fortune to have four bas-reliefs to do illustrating the life of Pere Marquette.” [Autobiographical Sketch, Hermon Atkins MacNeil, June 1943, page 5.]
The Indian had caught Hermon’s fancy. Beginning with Buffalo Bill Cody’s “Wild West Show” just outside the gate of the Chicago Fair, MacNeil saw Cody’s dramatic spectacle many times. He always carried a sketch book and drew whatever he saw.
Black Pipe later became the model for Primitive Indian Music.
FINDING BLACK PIPE:
One day walking down Adams Street, Hermon recognized a really long haired Indian looking down and out walking along the sidewalk. He looked hungry and cold. Hermon had sketched many Indians while attending Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.
“So I stopped and chatted with him and found he was stranded.” Mac brought him to the studio, warmed him, fed him and began modeling him. In four hours, MacNeil had made a full head profile relief, and titled it Black Pipe, the Sioux at Six Teen Years.
Like many other artists of the time, Hermon sculpted what he saw. This Indian had indeed “caught his fancy.”
Chicago. In fact, 1985, in general, had been a productive year for the sculptor. MacNeil had found Black Pipe, (the Sioux from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show), cold and hungry on the streets of Chicago. He took him in as studio help and a model for future sculptures. That vision of Black Pipe remained in Hermon’s artistic memory and appeared again many times.
For October 2023,
BLACK PIPE
will be the featured theme of
upcoming posts
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