Interior of traditional-style house. Blunden Harbour, B.C., 1951. Interior of large house on left in photo 13-6869. Related families lived in small enclosures built within the large space. Decorative patterns made by hand adz. Bulbs on beam ends are kelp bladders. Wooden Figure as a "speaker figure" used to welcome guests to potlatch Feast, often with Chief's orator speaking from behind the carving. Per Door Book/Accession Record: interior of a house.
Donor:
William R. Heick
Collection place:
Blunden Harbor, British Columbia, Canada
Culture or time period:
Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)
Collector:
William R. Heick
Collection date:
1951
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Accession date:
March 22, 2000
Department:
Still and motion photography
Dimensions:
length 36.195 centimeters and width 27.94 centimeters
Comment:
Per labels provided by Ira Jacknis: Interior of a traditional style house. Blunden Harbour, B.C.;1951. This great house, built around 1900, is a fine example of traditional Kwakiutl architecture. Related families lived in small enclosures built inside the large space. The decorative patterns on the beams were made by the repetitive motions of the hand-adz, the bulbs on the beams' ends representing kelp bladders. The large wooden sculpture, a "speaker figure", was used to welcome guests at a potlatch feast, often with the chief's orator speaking from behind the carving. This structure, the large house on the left in the following photograph, collapsed in the late 1950s.