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1900.25.2

Silver bracelet with a single clasp and carved with design of a beaver. [CAK 17/08/2009]

On display

1900.25.2

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Collection type
Object
Description
Silver bracelet with a single clasp and carved with design of a beaver. [CAK 17/08/2009]
Long description
Silver bracelet with a single clasp and carved with design of a beaver. The face of the beaver is in the centre of the bracelet, and the legs and body wrap around either side. [CAK 17/08/2009] Description taken from Conservation Card by Lorraine Rostant 13/02/1996 - One of two engraved silver bracelets with totemic (?beaver) designs. Broad bracelet of Silver held with simple clasp. Design of face chased on. (Lorraine Rostant 13/02/1996) [LKG 26/03/2009]
Geographical reference
Canada
Northern America > North America > Canada
British Columbia Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) NW Coast
Cultural groups
Haida
Person
Field collector Arthur John Evans
PRM source Arthur John Evans
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1900
Date collected
By 1900
Acquisition information
Donated: 07/1900
Materials and processes
Material Silver Metal, Process Incised, Process Hammered
Dimensions
Width: max 56 mm, Depth: max 66 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1900.25.2
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 bracelet was viewed alongside other items of personal adornment on Friday Sept 11, 2009. Delegates confirmed the identity of the animal as a beaver. Christian White noted the large front teeth as a prime indicator of the animal. He thought the bracelet has a lot of detail for such shallow carving. He added that the thinness of the metal requires the carver to execute the designs shallowly. It was observed that the silver was hammered very thin. Christian suggested that the double lines in the design may have been inspired by the work of Charles Edenshaw. Ruth Cladstone Davies and Christian White proposed that the three silver bracelets in the collection were carved by three different artists. Candace Weir discussed the clasp mechanism on this bracelet and noted that her husband, Christian White, has made a few bracelets for young girls with clasps so that the bracelets do not come off as easily. Delegates commented on the thinness of the older bracelets in comparison to the thicker ones made today. A discussion of bracelets can be viewed on Tape 6, time 8:15, 9:55 and 17:45 and Tape 7, time 27:20, which can be found in the Haida Project Related Documents File. [CAK 12/05/2010]

Search terms: Ornament, Figure, Arm Ornament, Animal Figure

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