Dance Screen Item Number: A3773 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Large off-white cotton curtain with black painted design. The curtain is made from three pieces of fabric sewn together, creating long horizontal seams. The design is a thunderbird motif with outspread wings.

History Of Use

Large cotton sheets painted with the Tsetseka spirit of the dancing house replaced earlier painted cedar plank walls. Each dancing house had its own spirit-painted curtain which was used as a screen to close off the rear part of the house, providing a space for masks and other ceremonial objects to be placed in readiness for the dancers. This space was strictly forbidden to uninitiated people.

Cultural Context

ceremonial

Specific Techniques

The commercial cotton fabric is painted black, either with water pigment, mud and charcoal, or commercial paint.

Iconographic Meaning

Thunderbird is one of the supernatural birds of the ancestor myths: the parent of many children who became chiefs of lineages. The flapping of his wings causes crashes of thunder, and lightning flashes from his eyes. He is so enormous that he fishes for killer whales as though they were small fish. He is is represented with supernatural horns curving from his head.

Item History

What

Name
Dance Screen
Identification Number
A3773
Type of Item
screen
Material
cotton fibre and paint
Manufacturing Technique
painted
Overall
height 2.7 m, width 4.4 m

Who

Culture
Kwakwaka'wakw
Creator
Arthur Shaughnessy (Maker) and Charlie George Walkus (Maker)
Previous Owner
Alice Mountain
Received from
Alice Mountain (Seller)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Collected in
Village Island, British Columbia, Canada and 'Mimkwamlis, British Columbia, Canada

Other

Item Classes
textiles
Condition
poor