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

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.

The bottom of this box is made from spruce and the sides, which are bent from a single plank, of yellow cedar. The pieces are fastened together with nails and wooden pegs. A carved figure, shown lying on its back with its hands against its abdomen, is on the cover. This figure represents a shaman lying on a burial platform. The box was made by Kadoucha and painted by Maggie. The black, green, and red-brown designs painted on the sides represent a whale and a beaver.

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.

Large, round, wall panel carving in the style of a spindle whorl. The motif at the lower centre is a frog, whose back legs are composed of salmon heads, while the frog’s front legs are feathers from a pair of thunderbirds. Circles of oxidized copper make up the eyes of the creatures. The background, between the animals, is painted grey.

Bentwood box made of yellow cedar, with separate lid (part b). Box is deeply carved with images of birds on two sides, decorated with inlaid circles and ovals of abalone shell for eyes and feather decoration. Into one side of the box is carved a wolf, painted black, with 8 shell operculua creating an even row of teeth in the open mouth. Abalone shell is used for the eye and other decoraton. A flower with foliage is carved beside the wolf. The fourth side is carved into repeating triangular and oval motifs, with black and rust paint accents. The lid (part b) is raised on one side, with 18 shell opercula in 6 rows of 3 shells decorating the high edge. Edges are painted black, while the top is coloured rust. Lid has an inset lip at bottom.

Carved wooden rattle with stand (part b). Rattle has a round head, relatively flat, with strips of cedar looped around the outer edge. The front is decorated in a blue painted thunderbird motif with white accents, while the back is painted with a black thunderbird. The handle of the rattle is tightly wrapped with a braided cedar rope. The stand (part b) is cone shaped, with a hole at centre top into which the rattle's handle fits in order to hold it upright. The stand is undecorated except for black paint in and around the hole and base.