This object is # 43 on list in accession file.

No catalog card found in card fileAnthropology Catalogue ledger book identifies this as a model of E45970 made in the Anthropology Lab for exhibit purposes. Original is from Chilkat Tlingit from Southeast Alaska.

Identified as of probable Makah manufacture by Teri Rofkar, Tlingit basket maker, 3-2003

FROM CARD: "LOANED TO THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART ON SEPTEMBER 10, 1971. RETURNED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2-9-72. REPAIRED AND RESTORED AT CONSERVATION 8/15/72. LOAN: CROSSROADS SEP 22 1988. ILLUS.: CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS CATALOGUE; FIG.387, P.281. LOAN RETURNED: JAN 21 1993."This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=127 , retrieved 11-28-2011: Chest This clan leader's chest - a bentwood box to hold clan regalia and crest objects - is decorated with operculum shells on the lid and base; these shells are the "trapdoor" pieces from red turban sea snails. Red paint used on the chest was probably hematite, ocher, or cinnabar mixed with grease and crushed salmon eggs. The central carving is a brown bear peering out of the entrance of its cave in spring; the large teeth and nostrils are distinguishing marks of this animal. Carvings of eagles flank the bear on each side, recognizable by their hooked beaks, wings, tails, and curved talons. "Here's the bear looking through his hole. In the fall time they close up their dens with a bunch of sticks and branches. Before he comes out, he looks out that opening, and that's what this represents." - Donald Gregory (Tlingit), 2005.

Provenience note: collection apparently purchased or collected by McLean in Sitka and vicinity circa 1884.

From card: "(A & D) Illus. Bu. Ethno. Ann. Report #26, p. 420, fig. 106. Note: Apparently prior to Dec. 1969 these specimens had not been numbered. The former dimensions and quantity (1) were also in error as shown in the old catalog book. Previous attributions to James Swan now seem to have little basis. -GP (George Phebus). Bear crest designs. See: The Far North, Nat'l. Gallery of Art, Washington, 1973, Pl. 235, pg. 188-189 (where all 4 are illustrated). Loaned to the National Gallery of Art October 20, (19)72. Returned 5-29-(19)73. A & C Loaned to Renwick 7/28/(19)82. Returned 1983. (Excerpt from exhibit catalogue for Renwick exhibit, called Celebration, A World of Art and Ritual, is taped to back of card. Objects are described as: "House screens, ca. 1850-1900, Tlingit Indians; Wrangell, Alaska, wood, fiber lashing, red and black paint, non-Indian frames." ... cont., see card.According to Eric Hollinger, Repatriation Office, Feb. 2007, E233498 was originally a pair of house screens measuring 7ft by 14 ft each. Both screens were sawed in half after they arrived at the museum and framed. Red borders were painted on each of the four sections and the same red paint was then applied to touch-up the red paint of the figures (based on Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute XRF analysis). Screen E233498A originally articulated with E233498D but they were separated when they were sawed in two within the museum. E233498A was on the left and E233498D was on the right. E233498B was originally articulated with E233498C before it also was sawed in two pieces within the museum. E233498B was on the right side and E233498C was on the left side. The screens were purchased by John R. Swanton from Mrs. Robert Shadesty in Wrangell, Alaska in 1904. See the Repatriation Office Tlingit case report (Hollinger et al. 2005).Florence Sheakley, Shirley Kendall, and Alan Zuboff, all three elders, made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Screens like these were used in houses to separate compartments, with screens in the back and the front of the house. Florence gives the Tlingit word for these screens (rv_Tlingit_20170320_004; 9:59). Alan pointed out that since there was no smoke line or sun bleaching, they were likely used indoors. Shirley commented that screens like this were no longer being made when she was growin up.

No catalog card found in card filePer Anthrology Catalogue ledger book, this is a model made in the Anthropology Lab for exhibit purposes of Catalogue No. E7944. Original identified as Tlingit, Alaska.

Note re provenience: Juneau had two names, Harrisburg and Rockwell, before December 1881, when it was named for Joseph Juneau. A handwritten note in the accession file states: "Auk Indians, Harrisburg, Alaska. Mainland. 160 miles N. W.B. Lord." A second note seems to state (handwriting is hard to read): "Halibut hook. Harrisburg Aleut. W.B. Lord." The halibut hook has been catalogued as Auk Tlingit. It is unclear if the Aleut reference in the note in the accession file indicates that it may actually be Aleut?