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Details / Information for Bowl

Bowl

early 1800s

Native North America, Northeastern Woodlands

Medium
wood
Measurements
Overall: 9 x 20 x 14.6 cm (3 9/16 x 7 7/8 x 5 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1984.12
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Fine wooden bowls were often used during feasts in the Northeastern Woodlands. The heads on the rims may represent spirit beings, perhaps the owner’s guardian spirits, acquired through dreams or visions—thought to be the ultimate sources of truth. The medium may also be profoundly meaningful. A Great Lakes (Meskwaki) Native said in 1911, “The murmur of the trees when the wind passes through is but the voices of our grandparents. Often a whole forest hums with talk . . . we often hear the sound of their laughter and the sound of their lamentations.”
A warm, deep brown wood bowl is carved into a boat-like silhouette with a curved basin and rounded bottom. Two stylized heads project from either end, facing inward across the vessel. Encircling the upper rim, a repetitive band of carved triangles follows the bowl's upward-curving profile. The polished surface displays a natural grain and a vertical crack, while the heads act as sculptural terminals that flare out from the vessel's ends.

Bowl

early 1800s

Native North America, Northeastern Woodlands

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