Platter

Museum number:
2-15590
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21020015590
Accession number:
Acc.708
Description:
Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.
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
Maker or artist:
Charles Edenshaw
Collector:
Willie J. Clark Dodd
Collection date:
1887-1890
Materials:
Argillite
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Platters (carrying dishes)
Function:
1.6 Manufacturing, Constructing, Craft, and Professional Pursuits
Accession date:
1936
Context of use:
Made for sale.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
whole— diameter 32.5 centimeters
Comment:
Central sculptural figure represents a female shaman dressed in a fringed kilt, probably with a painted design, although a Chilkat woven kilt could be represented. The fringes are tipped with pendant deer hooves. The woman wears a shaman's collar or neckring of twisted cedar bark hung with bone pendants and she holds a.hoop-like rattle in each hand. These rattles are made of thin wooden rods bent into a circle and fitted with a crosspiece to serve as a handle. Around the circumference are hung deer hooves or puffin bills. In her lower lip is a large oval labret. her headdress appears to be a cedar bark rope circlet with eagle tail feathers standing upright from the ring. The engraved design over the surface of the platter represents a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf. The large head, with triangular teeth, occupies the upper right quarter. Extending back from the head are the combined ear and upper foreleg. The lower foreleg and front foot extend upwards along the right edge of the shaman's body. The animal's dorsal fin appears under the shaman's feet. The facelike design to the left of the shaman's legs represents part of the animal's body at the base of the dorsal fin. The large eyelike joint in the upper left quarter is the hip joint. Extending downwards from it is the upper hind leg, and the lower hind leg and foot turn upward along the shaman's arm, the claws just touching the ear. The animal's tail extends from the hip joint along the upper rim of the platter." fide Bill Holm. See attribution to Charles Edenshaw and Bill Holm letter in accession envelope. See 2-56575 for Alva reproduction. Photo: yes. Published: "Arts of the Raven, Masterworks of the NW. C. Indians", Wilson Duff, Pl. 378. Exhibited: Vancouver Art Gallery 15 June - 24 September 1967. (cont'd from Names Comments) ...fide Bill Holm. Seen by Peter Mcnair, Curator of Ethnology, Provincial Museum, Victoria, B.C. who also attributes this piece to Edenshaw. "classic salmon-trout heads of Charlie Edenshaw." fide Carol Sheehan.
Loans:
S1945-1946 #4: Winfield Scott Wellington (March 11, 1946–October 28, 1955), S1961-1962 #1: Heard Museum (July 10, 1961–February 16, 1962), S1966-1967 #77: Physical Education Department (UC Berkeley) (March 9, 1967–March 9, 1967), S1973-1974 #12: New York Graphic Society (September 11, 1973–October 18, 1973), S1975-1976 #9: Palo Alto Cultural Center (November 1974–unknown), S1990-1991 #23: Blackhawk Museums (March 20, 1991–August 16, 1994), and S2011-2012 #2: Vancouver Art Gallery (September 1, 2013–February 21, 2014)
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 3 titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.Hearst Museum object 2 of 3 titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.Hearst Museum object 3 of 3 titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Platter, accession number 2-15590, described as Carved argillite; female shaman in relief surrounded by incised designs representing a sea monster or mythical sea mammal, perhaps a sea wolf.

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