Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

An oil dish beautifully carved of alder to represent either a seal of a sea lion. The eyes and joint of the tail flippers are inlaid with pearl, and operculum is used in the nostrils, teeth, front flipper joints, and around the edge of the dish. It is also decorated with small white trade beads. Three of Mr. Rasmussen's informants thought the figure represented a sea lion. One of them also believed the dish to be a mortar, in which case its greasiness would indicate that it was used for mashing salmon eggs and berries. Exact place of origin unknown.

Model of canoe [.1] decorated with carved bear prow and painted with animal designs, with two paddles [.2, .3]. [CAK 16/06/2009]

Carved, wooden eagle mask with three large faces stacked vertically. The face at the top is blue with thick black eyebrows, a pointed nose and wide lips. The oval eyes have black pupils decorated with unpainted half-crescents. The nostrils and lips are black. There are unpainted shapes against the blue of the forehead, cheeks and chin. The face at centre has thick, gently sloped, black eyebrows and a slightly open mouth. The holes bored as pupils are lined in black. The lips and nostrils are painted red. The figure at the bottom of the mask has a blue face and a large, curved beak. The underside of the beak and the lower jaw are painted black, as are the nostrils and pupils. There are small red designs below each eye and unpainted shapes on the cheeks. There are two small blue bird figures with black beaks, nostrils and eyes on both sides of the mask. The feathers on the sides and top of the mask have thin red lines and have small carved three-point shapes. There are two long green hide straps on both sides. Threads of cedar bark have been woven into a braid around the sides and bottom of the mask. Long strands of cedar bark are sewn in five overlapping bundles to the bottom of the mask. On the back is written the title, artist name and year, as well as a carved insignia.