1884.6.7

Collection type

Object

Description

Wooden bowl for food or grease in the shape of a canoe.

Long description

Wooden bowl for food or grease in the shape of a canoe. The bowl is rounded in the centre, with straight protrusions at the front and back along the bottom. Above these protrusions, the ends of the bowl extend upward, mimicking the bow and stern of a canoe. There is a groove running across the top of each protrusion. The exterior of the bowl is painted black with a unpainted line and think red line near the rim. The interior of the bowl is painted such that each side is a mirror image of the other. The inside edge of the rim is painted black, then there is an unpainted line, followed by a thick red line. The black and red lines come together at the bow and stern, and become the top of these protrusions. Below the thick red line, on either side in the centre is a split-U design with red cross-hatching. The area around the split-U is painted black. There are small unpainted circles near the bottom of the bowl on either side of the split-U. There are ovoid eye designs in black to the outside of the small circles, followed by a split-U design with black cross-hatching. The black split-U's extend part way up the bow and stern. There are double parallel red lines painted on the inside base of the bowl, extending from each black ovoid eye design to its mirror on the other side, and from the below the red cross-hatched split-U to it's mirror design. A thin red line runs down the centre of the bowl, from bow to stern. [CAK 25/05/2010]

Geographical reference

Canada

Northern America > North America > Canada

British Columbia Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) Vancouver Island

Cultural groups

Haida

Person

Maker Unknown Maker

Field collector Unknown Collector

PRM source Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers founding collection

Date / Period

Date made: Before 1874

Date collected

By 1874

Acquisition information

Donated: 1884

Materials and processes

Material Alder Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Process Carved, Process Painted

Dimensions

Length: max 315 mm, Width: max 170 mm

Object numbers

Accession number: 1884.6.7 Other numbers: 443 PR Cat other PR nos: 2154

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 bowl was viewed alongside other bowls on Wednesday, Sept 9, 2009. It was identified as a bowl or grease dish made of alder wood with a Haida style of painting and design. Christian White described this bowl as being in the shape of a canoe. [CAK 25/05/2010]

This object was viewed and identified as Haida by tribal members Vincent Collison, Lucille Bell, and Kwiiawah Jones on 7 September 2007 in preparation for a planned Haida community visit to PRM in 2009 [L Peers, 24/01/2008]

Search terms: Food and Drink, Vessel, Figure, Bowl, Bird Figure, Food Accessory