Speaker Figure

Item number 05.588.7418 from the Brooklyn Museum.

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 Brooklyn Museum. 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.

Description

The sculpture is an oversized standing wood figure called a speaker figure that would have been placed outside a house where, through its hollow mouth, the chief's orator would make announcements for the community. The figure stands with its arms attached to its body and arms and legs bent. The head is oversized in proportion to the body and the neck is short. Wide bands of black eyebrows overhang large almond-shaped eyes. Nose is long and triangular; mouth is large and open. On the chin is a carved and painted goatee. Condition of object is fair. Surface wear overall with spongy wooden areas throughout. Second photograph is the figure in situ in the village in Smith Inlet.

Credit Line

Museum Expedition 1905, Museum Collection Fund

Label

A Kwakwaka'wakw woman named Quolstitsas sold this figure to Dr. Charles Newcombe, who then sold it to Brooklyn Museum curator Stewart Culin in 1905. According to Culin's diary, the figure represents a speaker at a potlatch, a celebration feast at which the host distributed lavish gifts requiring reciprocation. An orator standing behind the figure would have spoken through its mouth, announcing the names of arriving guests. The lack of weathering on this figure suggests that it was used inside a house.