FROM CARD: "THIS IS A NORTHWEST COAST DECORATED BOX, SO FROM ALASKA COULD ONLY BE TLINKIT. RECTANGULAR WOODEN BOX WITH THE TOP FITTING DOWN OVER THE SIDES OF THE BOTTOM. BASE IS A THICK BOARD WITH SIDES FASTENED TO IT. (ALL PLAIN). TOP IS A THICK BOARD WITH CARVED AND PAINTED SIDES ORIGINALLY FASTENED TO IT. (THE LASHING IS NOT NOW (1973) PRESENT)."

FROM CARD: "CARVED WOOD. DESIGN: AN ANIMAL'S HEAD PAINTED RED, GREEN, WHITE AND BLACK."

FROM CARD: "ILLUSTRATED IN BARBEAU, "HAIDA MYTHS ILLUSTRATED IN ARGILLITE CARVINGS," NMC #127, P. 203 [Pl. 164]. 4/18/1967: LOAN TO VANCOUVER ART GALLERY. 12/13/67: LOAN RETURNED."Barbeau describes motifs on p. 207 and p. 228 of "Haida Myths Illustrated in Argillite Carvings" as thunderbird with curved or hooked bill/beak and closed wings in center; long protruding tongue linking two animals or people together; a frog; a bear swallowing an human head; one or two eagle, bear, or human profiles, together with stylized eyes and feathers. ILLUS. PL. 16, P. 54 IN "KADASHAN'S STAFF" BY ROBIN K. WRIGHT, AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE, VOL. 17, NO. 4, 1992, AND ID THERE AS ARGILLITE PIPE, HAIDA, COLLECTED BY WILKES EXPEDITION AT MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER IN 1841 FROM A HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY SHIP WHICH HAD JUST RETURNED FROM A TRIP TO THE NORTH. WRIGHT ID'S CARVER OF PIPE AS PROBABLY SAME PERSON WHO CARVED PIPE CAT. NO. 2586, AND ILLUSTRATES OTHER STYLISTICALLY SIMILAR OBJECTS IN ARTICLE. Illus. Fig. 3.41, p. 156, and discussed p. 156-159 in Wright, Robin Kathleen. 2001. Northern Haida master carvers. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Wright speculates carver may be Albert Edward Edenshaw (gwaaygu 7anhlan)?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.

SI ARCHIVE DISTRIBUTION DOCUMENTS SAY SENT TO GIGLIOLI, ITALY. 1892.