Dance Shirt Item Number: A6797 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Tunic-like painted shirt made from cotton fabric. The shirt is made from a rectangle of cotton folded in half, machine-stitched along the edges to make side seams, leaving 25 cm unsewn for the armholes; 6 cm fringes cut horizontally along the seams. The neck is cut out of the centre of the cloth, with a hand-stitched seam. The main crest on the front represents a double-headed raven with outspread wings painted mainly in black with dark red and pale yellow highlights. The top of the back panel is painted with a creature's face in red and black.
History Of Use
Ceremonial dance shirt.
Iconographic Meaning
Raven is one of the supernatural beings who inhabit the earth. Local groups and families trace descent to an ancestor who received special powers and privileges from the supernatural beings. These might include songs, dances, and the right to wear particular crests.
Narrative
In 1963, Solomon Brown of Kitkatla (1886-1970) took two rattles (A6795-96) and a painted shirt (A6797) to Vera Webb of the Totem Pole Gift Shop, to sell them. He told her the items had belonged to his uncle, Dzagmgishaaytks (recorded as Zagumgish Hoiks), who had died when Solomon was a child. Vera asked Audrey Hawthorn at MOA if she would like to buy them for the museum, which she did.
Item History
- Made in Kitkatla, British Columbia, Canada before 1900
- Owned by Solomon Brown and Dzagmgishaaytks
- Owned by Totem Pole Gift Shop before May 1963
- Received from H. R. MacMillan (Funding source) and Totem Pole Gift Shop (Seller) during May 1963
What
Who
- Culture
- Tsimshian: Gitxaala
- Previous Owner
- Solomon Brown, Dzagmgishaaytks and Totem Pole Gift Shop
- Received from
- H. R. MacMillan (Funding source) and Totem Pole Gift Shop (Seller)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Kitkatla, British Columbia, Canada
When
- Creation Date
- before 1900
- Ownership Date
- before May 1963
- Acquisition Date
- during May 1963
Other
- Item Classes
- textiles
- Condition
- fair
- Accession Number
- 0111/0003