Chilkat Robe Item Number: 87.88.80 from the Portland Art Museum
Description
Chilkat blankets, created by a complex form of tapestry twining, are the best-known textiles of the Northwest Coast. Emblems of nobility, they are prized for their crest significance, as well as for their beauty and fine workmanship. The labor-intensive process used to create a Chilkat blanket includes procuring and processing the materials, spinning the mountain goat wool wefts and the cedar bark and wood warps, dying the wefts, and weaving the blanket. The highly abstract designs of crest animals on Chilkat blankets fill the entire design space. The center panel of this design represents a diving whale, with the broad head filling the lower half while the spread-out tail flukes occupy the space along the upper border. A rectangular human face appears in the center of the whale's body.
Collection History Provenance
The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.
Item History
- Made by Tlingit artist in Haines, Alaska, USA during 1880
What
- Name
- Chilkat Robe
- Identification Number
- 87.88.80
- Type of Item
- robe
- Material
- cedar bark, cotton yarn and mountain goat wool yarn
- Overall
- width 70.0 in
Who
- Culture
- Tlingit
- Creator
- Tlingit artist
Where
- Holding Institution
- Portland Art Museum
- Made in
- Haines, Alaska, USA
When
- Creation Date
- during 1880
Other
- Categories
- Northwest Coast; Clothing and Textiles