Bentwood Chest
Item number 3000/22 a-e from the MOA: University of British Columbia.
Item number 3000/22 a-e from the MOA: University of British Columbia.
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Painted bentwood box. Rectangular box is painted on all sides with images of animals and faces in black and red. Two of its corners are reinforced with metal plates attached with nails. The front panel (part b) is detached and shows an oval face at centre, with hands at the sides, possibly wearing a headdress? The face is embellished with metal studs along its perimeter, mouth, and nose. The box is attached to its base by long metal nails. Parts c, d, and e are fragments from the front panel.
Bentwood boxes were used primarily for storage of food, implements, and ceremonial regalia, but were also used for cooking and serving food. They were trade goods or gifts, and were symbols of wealth and prestige. Boxes used for ceremonial purposes were usually more highly decorated than those for utilitarian use.
From the collection of the missionary Thomas Crosby, who worked in various places on the Northwest Coast of B.C. from 1863 to 1907.
Bentwood, or kerfed-corner, containers are constructed by a process unique to the Northwest Coast Aboriginal peoples. The carver begins with a single straight-grained plank of red cedar, or sometimes yellow cedar, spruce, or yew. The surface of the plank is finished with chisels, adzes, and knives; in earlier times, it was smoothed further with sandstone or dried sharkskin. Then three parallel kerfs, or grooves, are carved out at measured points across the width of the board, at right angles to the long edge. The kerfs, which will become three corners of the box, allow the board to be steamed until the wood fibres are softened, and then carefully bent to form a box with symmetrical sides. The final corner, as well as a fitted base, are joined and fastened with pegs (through drilled holes) or laced with spruce root or twisted cedar withes (branches). Storage boxes also have fitted lids of cedar, hollowed from the inside. Finally, painted compositions may be applied to the completed box and shallow carving added to bring the forms into relief. A well-made bentwood box is watertight. Historically, most boxes were used to store preserved foods and material goods; plain cooking boxes could be used to steam or boil food by adding water and heated stones.
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From the collection of the missionary Thomas Crosby, who worked in various places on the Northwest Coast of B.C. from 1863 to 1907.
Bentwood boxes were used primarily for storage of food, implements, and ceremonial regalia, but were also used for cooking and serving food. They were trade goods or gifts, and were symbols of wealth and prestige. Boxes used for ceremonial purposes were usually more highly decorated than those for utilitarian use.
Bentwood, or kerfed-corner, containers are constructed by a process unique to the Northwest Coast Aboriginal peoples. The carver begins with a single straight-grained plank of red cedar, or sometimes yellow cedar, spruce, or yew. The surface of the plank is finished with chisels, adzes, and knives; in earlier times, it was smoothed further with sandstone or dried sharkskin. Then three parallel kerfs, or grooves, are carved out at measured points across the width of the board, at right angles to the long edge. The kerfs, which will become three corners of the box, allow the board to be steamed until the wood fibres are softened, and then carefully bent to form a box with symmetrical sides. The final corner, as well as a fitted base, are joined and fastened with pegs (through drilled holes) or laced with spruce root or twisted cedar withes (branches). Storage boxes also have fitted lids of cedar, hollowed from the inside. Finally, painted compositions may be applied to the completed box and shallow carving added to bring the forms into relief. A well-made bentwood box is watertight. Historically, most boxes were used to store preserved foods and material goods; plain cooking boxes could be used to steam or boil food by adding water and heated stones.
Painted bentwood box. Rectangular box is painted on all sides with images of animals and faces in black and red. Two of its corners are reinforced with metal plates attached with nails. The front panel (part b) is detached and shows an oval face at centre, with hands at the sides, possibly wearing a headdress? The face is embellished with metal studs along its perimeter, mouth, and nose. The box is attached to its base by long metal nails. Parts c, d, and e are fragments from the front panel.
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