From card: "To accompany the harpoons # 72634-6. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 2c, pg. 424."Described p. 106 in Brown, James Temple. 1883. The whale fishery and its appliances. Washington: Govt. print. off.: "Serving Stick And Twine. Stick, yew; twine, nettle fiber. Ends of stick carved to represent the caudal fin of the whale. Used in connection with the mallet (76638) to serve harpoon laniards. Length, 16 1/2 inches. Makah Indians, Cape Flattery, 1882. James G. Swan. By means of this implement and the mallet, twine is wound or wrapped around the harpoon lines in spiral folds in the same manner as ordinary seamen serve a rope with spun-yarn or marline. The Indians employed this process before the advent of the white man. The necessities of the case caused them to adopt a plan at once simple and effective. "This stick has been in the family from which it was procured more than four generations. It was the property of Chief Haiks, who died at Neah Bay thirty years ago. His whaling implements have been carefully preserved and never used since his death."—[J. G. Swan.]"

FROM CARD: "TWINED BASKET MAT. ILLUS. IN USNM AR, 1888; PL.36, FIG. 183; P. 314. ONE SENT TO THE CHARLESTON MUSEUM, NOV. 7, 1922. RETURNED SEPT. 26, 1989. SEE ALSO ACC. 387023." FROM CARD: "...LOANED TO THE S.I. CENTENNIAL COMM. 7-9-75. LOAN RETURNED MAR 22 1990."

FROM CARD: "CHIEFS RATTLE. CARVED WOOD DESIGN: THE RUSSIAN DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE, PAINTED GREEN AND BLACK."

FROM CARD: "EX. LEIDEN MUS. MAY '99"The object name for catalog numbers e20736-20742 was previously recorded as: "Carving Wooden Dish Frog". This is due to the fact that the objects within this range share a single catalog card, where the description (carving wooden dish frog) only corresponds to the first object (e20734) in the series. When the catalog information was entered into the database, the object name was recorded as the same for each, despite the fact that each catalog number is representative of different, separate objects. At some point, a new catalog card was created for E20742. The other records were updated when digital images were attached to the catalog records.Listed on page 47 in "The Exhibits of the Smithsonian Institution at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, California, 1915", in section "Arts of the Northwest Coast Tribes (Tools)".

FROM CARD: "SAPPORO MUS. 1/26/95."Note, object was catalogued as Port Townsend, Washington, which is where collector Swan was based at that time. The accession record lists "Specimens of table mats from Sitka." as part of this accession. This object may be one of those pieces, and thus possibly Tlingit?A list in Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 186, Box 11, Distribution 5103, indicates a mat and three baskets catalogue number 13111 were sent as part of an exchange to the Annecy Museum, Haute-Savoie, France, March 1887.

Mask has movable eyes and lower jaw.

FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN BAE 3RD AR, PL. XX, FIGS. 46, P. 185." FROM 19TH OR EARLY 20TH CENTURY EXHIBIT LABEL WITH CARD: "CEREMONIAL MASK.---MADE OF WOOD; OUTLINES IN RED AND BLACK PAINT. BITS OF BUFFALO PELT SERVE AS EYEBROWS. LABRET SET IN LOWER LIP. WORN IN DANCES. LENGTH, 10 1/2 INCHES; WIDTH, 9 1/2 INCHES. TSIMSHIAN INDIANS (TSIMSHIAN STOCK), FORT SIMPSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 20,581. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN. THE CUSTOM OF WEARING A LABRET IN A SLIT CUT IN THE LOWER LIP PREVAILS AMONG THE WOMEN OF THE TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. IT IS A TOKEN OF RANK AND SOCIAL POSITION. THE LABRETS ARE GENERALLY MADE OF WOOD, IVORY, OR BONE, AND VARY IN SIZE FROM FOUR INCHES LONG BY THREE INCHES BROAD DOWN TO THE PROPORTIONS OF A SMALL SLEEVE BUTTON. THE CUSTOM IS FAST DYING OUT."

This one (the larger of the two hats) was formerly on exhibit in NHB Hall 9, case 29. Exhibit label identified it as: "Rain hat of woven spruce roots."

FROM CARD: "ANIMAL-FORM BOWL. LOANED RENWICK GA. 11-7-73. LOAN RETURNED 8-24-76."FROM CARD: "FROM: PAGE 47, BOXES AND BOWLS CATALOG; RENWICK GALLERY; SMITHSONIAN PRESS; 1974. OBJECT ILLUS. ON SAME PAGE. 21.ANIMAL-FORM BOWL WOOD; CARVED IN RELIEF LENGTH: 13 1/2 (TLINGIT), SITKA, ALASKA. COLLECTED BY JAMES G. SWAN. CATALOGED SEPTEMBER 28, 1875."