Copper

Item number E333176-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by National Museum of Natural History. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Notes

FROM CARD: "SHIP'S BOTTOM COPPER SHEETING WITH NATIVE RIVETING. CONSISTS OF SHEET COPPER. 1-2 CM. IN THICKNESS JOINED BY COPPER RIVETS INTO FORM TYPICAL OF N.W. COAST INDIAN 'PROPERTY' SHIELDS. OUTLINE FORM ROUGHLY OBLONG WITH FLARING EDGES EXTENDING FROM CENTRAL TRANSVERSE MIDRIB TO TOP MARGIN. BOTH TOP & BOTTOM ARE CONVEXED DIAMOND-SHAPE. A SECOND REINFORCING MIDRIB EXTENDS LONGITUDINALLY FROM CENTER TO BASE. RIBS ARE 1-2 CM. DEEP V GROOVES OPENING ON REVERSE OF SHIELD. NO SUSPENSION LOOP OR ARM HOLD DESIGNS. DESIGN ETCHING ON OBVERSE. (TAKEN FROM AN EARLY LABEL:) NATIVE COPPER SHIELDS. THESE SHIELDS WERE THE MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION OF THE ALASKA NATIVE AND THEIR PRICE RECKONED IN SLAVES. ONE LIKE THIS WAS WORTH ABOUT FIVE SLAVES. WE HAVE QUESTIONED SEVERAL AUTHORITIES ABOUT THIS SHIELD AND THEY ALL SAY THAT IT IS UNDOUBTABLY MADE OF COPPER NUGGETS HAMMERED OUT FLAT AND RIVETED TOGETHER. ITS ORIGIN THE COPPER RIVER COUNTRY. THE OWNER WAS A PRINCE OF WALES NATIVE. THE DAY AFTER HE SOLD IT TO US HE TRIED TO PERSUADE US TO TRADE BACK."See BAE 46th Annual Report, p. 35, where acquisition of this artifact is discussed. Ales Hrdlicka purchased this object (as well as E332801, discussed on p. 34) from Robert Simpson of The Nugget Shop, a curio shop in Juneau, Alaska. Purchased by Hrdlicka in 1926, presumably in June of that year as was E332801. The publication indicates that, according to Simpson, he purchased the copper in "Klawak, Prince of Wales Island."