Wooden spoon with painted 'eye' designs in black and red pigment. [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 13/3/2006]

Collection type: Object
Description: Wooden spoon with painted 'eye' designs in black and red pigment. [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 13/3/2006]
Long description: Wooden spoon with painted 'eye' designs in black and red pigment. The spoon is made from a single piece of wood. The handle is curved and tapers toward the end. The top of the handle is flat, while its underside is rounded. The handle measures 10 mm at its tip and 30 mm where it joins the bowl. There are two incomplete perforations near the tip of the handle on the front side of the spoon. These perforations are less marked on the reverse. At its widest, the bowl measures 49 mm, and the tip or front edge measures 6 mm. The handle and bowl are decorated with formline designs in red and black paint. The primary design is in black and may represent an eye, or may be more abstract. The red paint forms the secondary design and includes a small portion of cross hatching near the tip of the bowl and thin, parallel brush strokes across three other areas. [CAK 06/04/2009]
Geographical reference: Canada
Northern America > North America > Canada; British Columbia Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) NW Coast
Cultural groups: Haida
Person: Field collector Unknown Collector; PRM source Stevens Auction Rooms
Date / Period: Date made: Before 1933
Date collected: By 1933
Acquisition information: Purchased: 15/08/1933
Materials and processes: Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Process Painted, Process Carved
Dimensions: Width: max 49 mm, Length: max 177 mm
Object numbers: Accession number: 1933.87.16
Research and responses: The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum’s collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This spoon was viewed alongside other horn and wood spoons on Wednesday Sept 9, 2009. It is part of a set with 1933.87.16. Delegates believed this spoon was ornamental, and was made for sale (particularly to tourists) rather than used. Delegates did not think spoon such as these would have been traded between First Nations. Candace Weir wondered if the pair of spoons were for siblings. She said that if she were getting spoons for her daughters, she would get them a set like these. Delegates identified the spoons as Haida because of the red dashing pattern, eye design and shape. The eyes were thought to be raven eye designs. The red dashing could indicate the spoon came from Massett as this kind of dashing appears on a lot of boxes and paddles from Massett. The material was identified as alder wood by Christian White. Gaahlaay (Lonnie Young) also thought crab apple was a possibility. [CAK 18/03/2010]
An almost identical design can be found on spoon 1933.87.15. The difference being the red design near the front edge or tip of the bowl; there is no cross-hatching on 1933.87.15 as is found on this spoon. [CAK 06/04/2009]

Search terms: Food and Drink, Trade, Spoon, Food Accessory