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The two-dimensional formline decoration of the whale is of an early style and has been very deeply and crisply cut into the steel surface, reminiscent of the fine work on certain Tlingit large steel daggers with deeply engraved, crest-design pommels (c.f. Holm 1983, p.98, figs. 166 &167). Tedious, patient engraving with a small tool was required to detail out the surface of this unique object. With probably Russian influence in the technical aspects of the work, it is possible that a Tlingit metalsmith accomplished the steel journey as well as the refined traditional design work. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceSotheby's New York City, 1991, lot 143, consigned by Sitka Tlingit owners
BibliographySotheby's. 21 May 1991, Sale 6181, lot 143, Private Collection, Alaska.
"Auction Block." American Indian Art Magazine. Vol.17, No.1. (Winter 1991: 26).
Sotheby's Art at Auction 1990-91. New York: Sotheby's Publications/Rizzoli, 1991, p.218.
Sotheby's advertisement. American Indian Art Magazine. Vol. 17, No. 4. (Autumn 1992): 22.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.374.
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. 421.
Culture
Tlingit
Sculpture
Date1820-1860
DimensionsOverall: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 × 8 in. (7 × 3.8 × 20.3 cm)
Object numberT0201
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextBeautifully proportioned and technically remarkable, this highly uncommon representation of a killer whale is a surprising amalgamation of metalworking techniques and traditional design skills. The enigmatic object is said to have been made to cover the original owner's deformed nose, badly broken by the stiff recoil of a trade musket, (which became the source of material for this sculptural work). The whale is made of two pieces of steel, apparently forge-welded together just behind the oval blowhole. Two small holes remain near the center from what once must have been the riveted fastening of a dorsal fin. Abalone shell is inlaid in the eyes of the Thunderbird face in the whale's tail, the recurved beak of which appears to have been silver soldered in place. The Thunderbird's taloned feet grasp at the back of the whale's head, and finely-cut formline U-shapes delineate the Thunderbird's tiny wings, tucked in close behind the pectoral fins of the whale. The resulting composition in general recalls the Tlingit yew wood comb (c.f. T196). Both objects may have originated in the same Eagle-moiety clan within the Sitka village.The two-dimensional formline decoration of the whale is of an early style and has been very deeply and crisply cut into the steel surface, reminiscent of the fine work on certain Tlingit large steel daggers with deeply engraved, crest-design pommels (c.f. Holm 1983, p.98, figs. 166 &167). Tedious, patient engraving with a small tool was required to detail out the surface of this unique object. With probably Russian influence in the technical aspects of the work, it is possible that a Tlingit metalsmith accomplished the steel journey as well as the refined traditional design work. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceSotheby's New York City, 1991, lot 143, consigned by Sitka Tlingit owners
BibliographySotheby's. 21 May 1991, Sale 6181, lot 143, Private Collection, Alaska.
"Auction Block." American Indian Art Magazine. Vol.17, No.1. (Winter 1991: 26).
Sotheby's Art at Auction 1990-91. New York: Sotheby's Publications/Rizzoli, 1991, p.218.
Sotheby's advertisement. American Indian Art Magazine. Vol. 17, No. 4. (Autumn 1992): 22.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.374.
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. 421.
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