Brooklyn Museum Collection

THE ESKIMO OF BAFFIN LAND AND HUDSON BAY, FROM NOTES COLLECTED BY CAPTAIN GEORGE COMER, CAPTAIN JAMES S. MUTCH, AND REV. E.J. PECK. BOAS, FRANZ BULLETIN, 15, 1901

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection

This feast dish is carved in the form of a stylized whale head with eyes and mouth indicated. Blow hole appears at top of snout. In the center there is an opening on which rests a projecting dorsal fin. The bottom of the dish has a leg for support on the right side; on the left side a pole shaped runner extends horizontally from the front of the body to the back fin.

This bentwood corner bowl was made by the distinctly Northwest Coast process called kerfing. A single plank of wood is first trimmed, notched , steamed and bent. The bottom and sides were then pegged or sewn together with tree root. Finally the bowl is decorated with carving, painting and adding operculum shell trims. The large bowl would have been used for dried food. The abstracted design on the sides represents a killer whale.

Frank L. Babbott Fund

Two pieces of horn put together. The handle is black and carved, the ladle is thin and amber colored.

The object is also referred to as a war club. Its head is a large elongated rectangular stone that is inserted into a carved wooden handle. The handle has three faces, one on the top and the second and third on either side of the ax head. These faces have three rows of hair in small "ponytails" protruding from the ridge above the eyebrows. One of the hair "ponytails" has been cut off, leaving a stump of frayed hair sticking up on the proper left top side of the face. The underside of the handle has a carved seal and midway along the handle is a filled break. The object is painted black with white and red accents. There are inlayed areas of abalone shell around the base of the handle, the sides of the head, and in the eyes and teeth of the faces. The only missing shell inlay is from the base of the handle. The overall condition of the piece is fair and stable. According to Robin K. Wright, Burke Museum, 4/16/03, the face looks more Bella Bella (Heiltsuk).