PRIMAL VISIONS: ALBERT BIERSTADT "DISCOVERS " AMERICA. FISCHER, DIANE EXHIBITION CATALOG, 2001 OBJECTS OF BRIGHT PRIDE: NORTHWEST COAST INDIAN ART FROM THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.FIRST EDITION. WARDWELL, ALLEN EXHIBITION CATALOG, 1978, Publisher: THE CENTER FOR INTER-AMERICAN RELATIONS AND THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF THE ARTS OBJECTS OF BRIGHT PRIDE: SECOND EDITION. WARDWELL, ALLEN EXHIBITION CATALOG, 1978

Simple, undecorated wooden ladles share everyday duty with plain dishes and bowls. This ladle is decorated only with a shallow groove paralleling the inner rim, a conventional ladle feature throughout much of the northern coast. The wood, probably alder, has been stained almost black by an infusion of the candlefish oil which it once contained. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

Great ladles, with figures of mythical creatueres carved on their handles, are used to distribute food from the feast dishes. The Burke Museum collection includes a pair of large ladles decorated with carved Sisioohl heads. The Sisioohl head is conceived as an extension of the handle, bent back upon itself and joined to the neck of the spoon. The head, with its coiled nostril, scaly crest, and spiral horn, is deeply carved and painted in black, red, green, and white. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

The pigment is black.

The paint is red and black.

This ladle is one of a pair of ladles in the collection of the Burke Museum. Ladles with figures of mythical creatures carved on their handles, such as this one, are used to distribute food from feast dishes. The Sisioohl head is conceived as an extension of the handle, bent back upon itself and joined to the neck of the spoon. Attached to the nose and curling up over it like a tongue, is a small copper. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)