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Its form has an airy sleekness like that of the Prince William Sound Kachemak kayaks with their narrow freeboard and gracefully upturned bows. In contrast, quivers made by the neighboring Southwestern Central Yup’ik peoples consist of sealskin tightly sewn around a frame of lightly spaced ribs and spaces that recall actual kayak construction.
The Thaw Chugach quiver, bow, and arrows, collected by Alton L. Dickerman before 1884, are most interesting- not only for their completeness but because of the quiver’s incised and painted Tlingit-like eye, fin, and/or tail motifs. Abridged and isolated to those on Chugach and Koniag woven ceremonial hats and painted boxes (made for tea and trinket storage for early Russian officials and visitors).
The example now in the Phoebe A. Heart Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, California, is also incised and painted, but only with traditional Alutiiq motifs such as those ringing the narrow part of the Thaw quiver. That quiver was collected on Kodiak Island, farther into Alutiiq territory than the supposed origin of the Thaw quiver among the Chugach, and it bears no evidence of Northwest Coast influence. Another example, also from the Koniag of Kodiak Island or the part of the Alaska Peninsula immediately across from that island, has a reddish stain and lacks any ornamentation. This example was donated in 1829 or 1834 to the Etholen Collection in the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceAlton L. Dickerman, Sitka, Alaska c. 1883; Miss Foster B. Dickerman, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mrs. Alice Bemis Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1928; Taylor Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1954
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.95.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.429.
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. 477.
Culture
Chugach (Alutiiq)
Bow, Quiver and Arrows
Date1825-1850
DimensionsOverall: 36 1/2 × 4 in. (92.7 × 10.2 cm)
Object numberT0238a-i
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextQuivers of this type were closely associated with hunting by kayak (lighter skin quivers were used when hunting on land). Typical sea quarry was the sea otter, but fur seals were also taken. Until the otter was nearly extinguished, both were staples of the Russian/American/Aleut/Alutiiq fur trade. The quiver was placed on the deck of the kayak between the two round open hatches for the paddlers, so each had easy access to the two arrows. This Alutiiq (Pacific Eskimo) bell-mouthed quiver and its original set of arrows is extremely rare. It is fashioned from two pieces of wood, tightly fitted and banded with sinew to form a cylinder, with one end narrower and closed, the other end flared out and open to facilitate the use of the arrows.Its form has an airy sleekness like that of the Prince William Sound Kachemak kayaks with their narrow freeboard and gracefully upturned bows. In contrast, quivers made by the neighboring Southwestern Central Yup’ik peoples consist of sealskin tightly sewn around a frame of lightly spaced ribs and spaces that recall actual kayak construction.
The Thaw Chugach quiver, bow, and arrows, collected by Alton L. Dickerman before 1884, are most interesting- not only for their completeness but because of the quiver’s incised and painted Tlingit-like eye, fin, and/or tail motifs. Abridged and isolated to those on Chugach and Koniag woven ceremonial hats and painted boxes (made for tea and trinket storage for early Russian officials and visitors).
The example now in the Phoebe A. Heart Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, California, is also incised and painted, but only with traditional Alutiiq motifs such as those ringing the narrow part of the Thaw quiver. That quiver was collected on Kodiak Island, farther into Alutiiq territory than the supposed origin of the Thaw quiver among the Chugach, and it bears no evidence of Northwest Coast influence. Another example, also from the Koniag of Kodiak Island or the part of the Alaska Peninsula immediately across from that island, has a reddish stain and lacks any ornamentation. This example was donated in 1829 or 1834 to the Etholen Collection in the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceAlton L. Dickerman, Sitka, Alaska c. 1883; Miss Foster B. Dickerman, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mrs. Alice Bemis Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1928; Taylor Museum, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1954
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.95.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.429.
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. 477.
On View
On view
