Probably representing a sea lion; carved wood painted black, red and blue. Perforations at sides of snout formerly held whiskers.
Donor:
Alaska Commercial Company, Benjamin Bristol, and Older University Collections
Collection place:
Northwest Coast, United States
Verbatim coll. place:
; Northwest Coast
Culture or time period:
Tlingit
Collector:
unknown
Collection date:
unknown
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works)
Function:
5.3 Objects relating to the Secular and Quasi-religious Rites, Pageants, and Drama
Accession date:
1904
Context of use:
Dance helmet.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
height 22 centimeters, diameter 20.5 centimeters, and width 29 centimeters
Comment:
According to Bill Holm, the eyes on this specimen more typical of Tlingit rendition of sealion eyes than is 2-4772, but ears rather large for sealion. Published: Inverarity, "Art of the Nw. Coast Indians", fig. 79.
Loans:
S1945-1946 #4: Winfield Scott Wellington (March 11, 1946–October 28, 1955), S1951-1952 #1: University of California, Los Angeles (March 15, 1952–returned by 1957), S1952-1953 #2: California Palace of the Legion of Honor (dates unknown), S1963-1964 #9: UC San Francisco Medical Center (September 3, 1963–October 11, 1963), S1974-1975 #41: Palo Alto Cultural Center (January 6, 1975–March 19, 1975), S1979-1980 #48: University of California, Davis (April 1, 1980–June 9, 1980), S1982-1983 #35: California State University, Chico (April 5, 1983–July 26, 1984), S1986-1987 #28: SFO Museum (June 4, 1987–August 26, 1987), S1988-1989 #8: Art Gallery (Sonoma State Univ.) (September 7, 1988–October 25, 1988), S2009-2010 #11b: SFO Museum (dates unknown), and S2009-2010 #11: SFO Museum (dates unknown)