Artwork Page for Beaver-Shaped Bowl

Details / Information for Beaver-Shaped Bowl

Beaver-Shaped Bowl

c. 1890–1920

Native North America, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit?

Medium
wood
Measurements
Overall: 11.3 x 27 x 18.7 cm (4 7/16 x 10 5/8 x 7 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Barry Bradley 2009.434
Public Domain
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Location
231 Native North American
Print

Description

Bowls were a major Northwest Coast art form, used in many contexts including potlatch feasts that validated the rights and privileges of wealthy noble families. When Euro-American settlement forced a change from traditional to cash economies in the early 1900s, Indigenous carvers turned their skills to creating bowls like this example for the outside market.
A dark brown wood vessel depicts a reclining beaver with its back hollowed into a deep, smooth basin. The head features a wide snout and rounded eyes, with front paws gripping a horizontal bar. Stylized rear legs are carved along the vessel's sides. A wide, flat tail with a cross-hatched pattern extends from the rear. Light brown wood grain highlights the rhythmic, recessed lines of the animal's features against the polished finish.

Beaver-Shaped Bowl

c. 1890–1920

Native North America, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit?

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