Description

Miniature wooden paddle painted with formline designs. [CAK 05/08/2009]

Longer Description

Miniature wooden paddle painted with formline designs. The paddle is carved from a single piece of wood (likely cedar). The butt of the handle is thicker so it can be grasped in the hand. The shaft below the handle tapers and rounds. The blade of the paddle is leaf shaped, with a rounded end, and thin cross-section. The blade is painted with black formline designs on each side: the designs are nearly identical except for a segment near the shaft. There is a distinct eye design, with split U designs on either side, and large solid black sections underneath. [CAK 05/08/2009]

Research Notes

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 paddle was viewed alongside full-size paddles on Tuesday Sept 15, 2009. Delegates thought that the small size of this paddle indicated it was made for children to use or practice with. Christian White thought it might have been used by a child to dance with. Delegates thought the paddle looked like it had been used. This paddle prompted a discussion about how the range in the size of canoes. Smaller canoes were used to paddle down rivers or in lakes. Paddles were said to be light and thinly carved in the past, whereas paddles today are often much thicker. It was said the edge of a paddle could be sharpened so that the paddle could be used as a weapon. The handle of the paddle was designed with ergonomics in mind and would fit the users hand. [CAK 17/05/2010]

Primary Documentation

Accession Book Entry - 12 Jan J. T. HOOPER, Littlemore, Oxon. Miniature wooden paddle, painted with eye-designs, HAIDA, N.W. AMERICA. .. Pd petty cash 12 Jan 12/6

There is no further information on the catalogue card. [CW 8 6 98]

Pitt Rivers Museum label - N. AMERICA.CANADA.HAIDA d.d. Hooper, purch 1928 Miniature paddle. [CAK 02/04/2009]

Written on object - Miniature paddle, HAIDA, N.W. America. Pur. 1929, (Hooper). [E.S-R 'DCF 2004-2006 What's Upstairs?' 17/12/2004]
Written on object (?) - There are markings on the handle, these may be scratches or illegible writing in pencil [KJ 04/06/2009]

Related Documents File [James Thomas Hooper, Catalogue of Ethnographical Material] - The museum has a photocopy of Hooper's accession and dispersal records, which are bound as two volumes and kept in a separate box file. Items are arranged according to Hooper's own numbering system [RTS 21/11/2003].

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]