(Silver) Napkin-Ring

Item number E20258-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "20258 & 20259 IDENTIFIED [in MARCH, 1979] BY PETER MACNAIR, B.C. PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, VICTORIA, AS MADE BY CHARLES EDENSHAW. INVENTORIED 1979." FROM CARD [for E20257 through 20259], 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL: "NAPKIN RINGS.---MADE OF THIN SILVER BANDS, WITH EXTERIORS ENGRAVED WITH VARIOUS FIGURES. HAIDAH INDIANS. DIAM., 1 1/2 INS. HEIGHT, 1 7/16 INS. CASSIAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1876. COLLECTED BY J. G. SWAN FOR CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION, 1876. MADE BY HAIDAH INDIANS UNDER DIRECTION OF MR. SULLIVAN, GOLD COMMISSIONER OF DOMINION OF CANADA. BURNISHED BY RUDOLPH, OF VICTORIA, B. C."E20258 and E20259 had been attributed to Charles Edenshaw by Peter Macnair in 1979. However, Robin Wright, 2013, attributes them as Haida, but by an unknown maker. Illus. Fig. 204, p. 180 in Wright, Robin Kathleen, Daina Augaitis, Robert Davidson, and James Hart. 2013. Charles Edenshaw. London: Black Dog Publishing. The napkin ring is attributed to an unknown maker rather than to Charles Edenshaw, which is discussed on pp. 180-181, and design is described as consisting of a winged human on one side, and a dog in a central cartouche on the other. "This napkin ring features a winged human perhaps inspired by figureheads on European ships, angel imagery, or by the many Haida stories of human transformation."