Square, kerfed, steamed bentwood bowl: hardwood sides, red-cedar base, sinew stitching. Rim inset with operculum shells, originally four to each side (one missing). Outer surface carved with animal imagery.

• History Of Use

  This small dish held oolichan oil or grease and is now saturated with food oils. It is defined as a food bowl or dish because of its use and its undulating rim.

• Iconographic Meaning

  Carved imagery holds elements of animal representations but not the whole: several sets of eyes, ears, and mouths with teeth; some components right-side up, others seemingly upside down. Imagery could have been meant to be ambiguous for its intended holder or meant to display the owner’s crest. The bowl and the supernatural/animal being are one, speaking metaphorically of the connections between family, history, and the creatures of the land. Also represents the power and artistry of feast vessels.

• Specific Techniques

  Made with a steam-bending technique and embellished with both carved imagery and operculum shells.

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• Type of Item bowl
• Culture Tsimshian
• Material wood, red cedar wood, operculum shell, sinew
• Measurements height 10.6 cm, width 16.0 cm, depth 14.5 cm (overall)

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• Previous Owner Elspeth McConnell
• Received from Elspeth McConnell

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• Made in British Columbia

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• Creation Date between 1800 and 1850
• Ownership Date before August 12, 2017
• Acquisition Date on August 12, 2017

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• Condition good
• Accession Number 3260/0038