Very old, finely twined rain hat with 4 "pillboxes." Painted designs in red and black.
Donor:
W. Barclay Stephens
Collection place:
Masset, Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Verbatim coll. place:
Canada; British Columbia; Queen Charlotte Islands; Masset
Culture or time period:
Haida
Collector:
Willie J. Clark Dodd
Collection date:
1887-1890
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Basketry (object genre), Hats, and Twined weaving
Function:
3.1 Status Objects and Insignia of Office
Accession date:
1936
Context of use:
Potlatch hat"; rings indicate the number of ceremonies the owner has sponsored. Reg Davidson/Jim Hart, Haida sculptors, comments (October 1990): "This means the fellow who owned the hat threw 4 potlatches. This is the smallest one I've seen.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
height 25 centimeters and diameter 28 centimeters
Comment:
I''ve seen one with eagle down in it (inside hole that goes through it). This was custom made. I had one made for my daugter. An interesting thing about these hats and baskets is the finishing. I can always tell who the artist is by the tricks they used to finish it off. They were woven by women and painted by men. They used to make a cover of cedar bark for storage." (fide Reg Davidson/Jim Hart, October 1990).
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), S1966-1967 #77: Physical Education Department (UC Berkeley) (March 9, 1967–March 9, 1967), and S1992-1993 #8: Blackhawk Museums (November 17, 1992–unknown)