Large, carved human figure of wood with attached hair, fur, metal rings, glass eyes; blue, green and red paint on face; natural wood body. Perhaps represents mythical land otter man. Damage to left leg and foot: left leg cracked badly (loose to touch) along grain of wood, on calf of figure; foot (previously restored) broke off completely partially along old restoration and partially with new break. Possible shamanic funerary statue.
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:
Alaska Commercial Company
Collection date:
October 1967
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:
Burial? Extract from Ed Carpenter letter: "My thought was that your figure was originally dressed in the clothing of the deceased person it was carved to represent and that it had probably been placed in a grave house following
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
height 33.5 inches
Comment:
Published: Illustrated in R.H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology catalog, "Art of the Northwest Coast", Spring exhibit, March 26-October 17, 1965; p. 95. Exhibited and Illustrated: Alaska Centennial Exposition, 1967, Fairbanks; Erna Gunther (1967) "Alaska Native Arts Come Home", Centennial Exposition catalog, May 27-September 30, 1967, Fairbanks, Alaska, p. 5. "The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art", the National Gallery, 1973, p. 234. Damaged on Loan S66-67 #89, repaired with white Elmer's Glue while on loan. See file card. Photo: 15-4372, 15-21749, 15-21756. "The statue is not now dressed as it was in this photo. It may have once been dressed by its exhibitors to avoid offending Victorian sensibilities. SCW 2/16/65". See Ed Carpenter's letter in accession envelope. People who drowned at sea were thought to turn into land otter men. (This belief was prevalent among the northern groups on the Northwest Coast.)
Loans:
S1945-1946 #4: Winfield Scott Wellington (March 11, 1946–October 28, 1955), S1963-1964 #9: UC San Francisco Medical Center (September 3, 1963–October 11, 1963), S1966-1967 #89: University of Alaska, Fairbanks (April 17, 1967–October 2, 1967), S1970-1971 #21: University Art Museum (UC Berkeley) (October 12, 1970–January 20, 1971), S1971-1972 #26: Whitney Museum of American Art (October 4, 1971–January 20, 1972), S1971-1972 #76: University Art Museum (UC Berkeley) (January 21, 1972–August 23, 1972), S1972-1973 #16: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art (October 16, 1972–June 11, 1974), S1979-1980 #48: University of California, Davis (April 1, 1980–June 9, 1980), and S1992-1993 #8: Blackhawk Museums (November 17, 1992–unknown)