Red Stone Pipe

or
[Chant to the Redstone Pipe]; John & Jerry—Chant to Pipe

Generously provided by Museum of the Southwest

Full redstone pipes are a rarity among Northern Plains tribes, and this is one of only a few canvases painted by Sharp that contained such a treasure. The work is small, measuring only 20 x 16 inches, but the execution is superb. The light is carefully spread over his two favorite male models, John Gomez (Hunting Son) and Jerry Mirabal (Elk Foot) with a special focus on the pipe that is held erect in John’s left hand. Jerry beats a hand drum and although both men appear to be humming rather than chanting, honorific music is being made.

The Gomez and Mirabal families were devoted opponents among the political ranks of the Taos Pueblo. The Gomez clan promoted modern thought and life while the Mirabals sought the preservation of traditional ways. Despite the fact that Sharp elected here to picture both men in traditional garb, he was at least able to bring the two competing families together in a compatible manner that speaks to his persuasions as a unifying force in the community. This is somewhat different than his contemporary Ernest Blumenschein, was inclined to do in a painting of 1920, Star Road and White Sun, that pictured Geronimo Gomez as a cultural rebel and Juan de Jesus Martinez as an anachronistic traditionalist. (related image 504a)

In early 1926 Sharp exhibited what was probably this painting titled Red Stone Pipe in Pasadena. His sales ledger for two years later, September 1928, indicates that he sold a painting that measured 20 x 16 inches and titled “John & Jerry – Chant to Pipe” to a Tulsa man named H. C. G. Tyrrell for $700. This was an especially high price for such a small work at this time, and it might be assumed that Sharp considered it one of his finest achievements.

Peter H. Hassrick

Artist: Joseph Henry Sharp
Date: ca. 1926; [early 20th century]
Catalogue Number: 504
Medium: oil on linen
Inscriptions: LR: JHSHARP

Inscribed on verso: "Fire light and twilight -- interior of lodge or tepee Indian painted elk skin back of figures, war bonnet was in Custer battle."

Dimensions: 20 1/4 x 16 1/8 in.
Credit Line: Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
Accession Number: 1980.009.014
Subjects: Taos, chant, drum, firelight, interior, pipe

The artist; H. C. G. Tyrrell, Tulsa, OK, 1928; [?]; Fred T. and Novadean Hogan; present owner by gift, 1980

This is probably the painting, Red Stone Pipe, Sharp exhibited in Indian Paintings at The Schroeder Galleries in Pasadena in February 1927. Another related painting titled Jerry with the Redstone Pipe (Record 619) was presented in November that year in an exhibition titled Indians and Other Paintings at the Traxel Art Galleries in Cincinnati. According to Sharp's sales ledgers from 1928, a painting titled John & Jerry - Chant to the Pipe sold to a Tulsa individual, H. C. G. Tyrrell. (Sharp Papers)

Red Stone Pipe

Related