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ProvenanceAlexander Grant Dallas, Hudson's Bay Company Administrator, Fort Victoria, 1857-1861; Museum of Native American Culture, Spokane, Washington; Jerrie and Anne Vander Houwen, Yakima, Washington; Shaw Gallery, Aspen, Colorado
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.354, 355.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 390.
Culture
Coast Tsimshian
Bowl
Datec. 1800
MediumAlder or birch, pigment
DimensionsOverall: 2 1/4 × 4 1/4 × 7 1/4 in. (5.7 × 10.8 × 18.4 cm)
Object numberT0168
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe fully modeled head and tail on this bowl convey the graceful image of a swimming beaver. Often referred to as oil or grease dishes, these bowls held seal or candlefish oil, a prized condiment. This bowl was made from alder, a pale, white maplelike wood when freshly felled. Initial saturations of the wood with seal or candlefish oil began to oxidize and warmed the surface color to a golden honey tone. It took decades of use to change the color to a deep black.ProvenanceAlexander Grant Dallas, Hudson's Bay Company Administrator, Fort Victoria, 1857-1861; Museum of Native American Culture, Spokane, Washington; Jerrie and Anne Vander Houwen, Yakima, Washington; Shaw Gallery, Aspen, Colorado
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.354, 355.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 390.
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