Large black, highly polished, melon shaped bowl with graceful, deep ridges all around it, small opening in top.The melon form of bowls is a new shape closely associated with Helen Shupla. Condition: Excellent

Tag attached M.D. Schwatrz: "Flask 19th c. Puurchased over 40 years ago in shop in Greenwich, R. I."

Jar with narrow black rim, cylindrical neck, and globular body. Jar has black on white stepped zigzag design that gradually enlarges as it moves from rim of neck to base of body.

Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund

This is carved out of one piece of elk horn. Horn spoon with a zig zag cut out handled. Designed by artist to refect traditional influence from spoon 05.588.7578 George Blake(Hupa, 1944-) was born on the Hupa Reservation. He works in contemporary styles of ceramics, and painting but concentrates more on tradtional styles of items such as redwood canoes, sinew-backed bows and arrow sets, elk horn purses and spoons and ceremonial featherwork.

This elk horn spoon is a beautiful contemporary vesion of historical spoons.George Blake(Hupa, 1944-) was born of the Hoopa Reservation. He works in contemporary styles of ceramics, and painting but concentrates more on tradtional styles of items such as redwood canoes, sinew-backed bows and arrow sets, elk horn purses and spoons and ceremonial featherwork.

This is a hand adze composed of a carved wood handle, bear shin bone blade and commercial twine wrapped around both to bind together. The wood handle iconography has the top of a wolf's head with the upper torsos of a pair of dancers wearing wolf masks. These masks usually come in pairs (See 08.491.8905a,b). According to Culin collecting records the bone blade replaced an iron blade (2908:84). According to Bill Holm, Northwest Coast specialist, the twine is commercial and unabraded which indicates the adze has never been used in this form. The handle shows a wear pattern of the hand that used it and is softly worn.

Earplugs. A red-feathered disk is surrounded by white beads and attached to a carved piece of bone. Pendants of abalone are suspended from the red disk.

This is one of a pair of wolf (?) masks (see 08.491.8905b). Both are constructed of wood pieces nailed together to make flat sided, flat ended forms with painted faces. The two masks generally resemble each other; however, there are construction differences between them and the painted forms on each mask differ. Both have openwork frets along the top and cut out teeth. Remnants of cedar bark hair are inside the top frets on each mask. Both have ovoid eyes; however, one mask's eye area is infilled with black dots and the other's has solid red infill. A long, thick curved eyebrow arches over each eye on both masks; however, nostrils differ: one has nostrils with black over red painted geometric forms; the other has black painted swirled nostrils. There is uncertainty whether the pair represent wolves or serpents. They might be serpents for if the objects were wolves, they most likely would have no ears. The object (08.491.8905a) appears to be structurally stable except for the fabric attached at the front under the jaw. Also, the split cane bundles that represent fur (?) are dried and brittle. The proper left side of the mask appears to have been repainted. The mask is properly worn on the top of the head with the face forward.

This is a painted elk hide. The narrative includes a camp scene with tipis, a "sun" dance, modified to show an eagle rising above the pole structure, which has an unraised buffalo head. Warriors dressed in finery are entering the village. On the fringe a group of women sit near a fire. The perimeter depicts a buffalo hunt with the hunters on horseback using rifles. Vignettes of skinning the buffaloes are also depicted with heaps of the heads, hides and hooves separated and piled. The colors used are brown, black, red, pink, purple, blue, maroons, and green. See supplementary files in Arts of Americas office for a study of paints.