AFA Summer 2020

2020 Antiques & Fine Art 69 Two-stem smoking pipe, probably Indonesia, about 1790. Metal and wood. ⅝ x 9¾ x 1⅝ inches. Gift of Captain Jonathan Carnes (1799 M18). American marine societies provided financial relief for the widows and families of lost or indigent sailors and supported improvements to navigation around their home ports. Created in 1799, the Salem East India Marine Society is PEM’s founding institution. It went well beyond these principles, instructing its members to obtain objects during their voyages “to form a museum of natural and artificial curiosities.” When member Jonathan Carnes returned to Salem in October 1799, his valuable cargo of pepper from Sumatra was matched in importance by 13 objects he gave to the newly founded institution—the first donation to the museum. One was this unusual pipe, acquired near Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Today, we know little about this curious looking pipe, but its double-ended form alludes to two founding principles of the organization: commercial success based on fair trade and trusted relationships.