Plate has been broken and repaired. Incised and carved relief decoration, front and back, including floral and leaf motifs, compass-drawn motifs, cross-hatching. Has original Peale # label.Provenience note, in 1841 Oregon Territory encompassed the land from Russian Alaska to Spanish California and from the Pacific to the Continental Divide. The U.S. Exploring Expedition did not go to Canada, but did reach Oregon Territory in 1841, and carried out a hydrographic survey of the Columbia River from its mouth to the Cascades, as well as doing some surveying inland.They had dealings with Hudson's Bay Company staff during that time, and it is probable that the HBC is the source of a number of the Northwest Coast artifacts collected by the expedition. This object has been attributed as possibly Haida, based on its being made of argillite.

ACCESSION 23703?; FISH TRAP WITH WRONG NUMBER. Stored Tlingit.

From card: "Bear, bear-killer whale, raven and dog fish motifs."