Native American, Pacific Northwest, Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) people, ca. early 20th century CE. A hand-carved wooden feast bowl of an enormous size with an ovoid body shaped like a canoe. The flat-bottomed vessel has sloped sides, thick walls, and a deep basin within which different types of foodstuffs would be presented. Illustrated on one side of the vessel are a pair of highly stylized orcas (killer whales) with bifurcated tails, red stripes across the latter half of the bulbous black body, lengthy pectoral fins, streamlined dorsal fins, and a single almond-shaped eye above a gaping mouth. Orca whales are considered to be imbued with potent attributes of strength and power, and merely glimpsing one in the open waters is considered to be a highly symbolic omen. Size: 57.75" L x 9.6" W x 6" H (146.7 cm x 24.4 cm x 15.2 cm)
According to Kwakiutl legend, orcas (also killer whales) were the physical manifestations of the souls of open-water marine hunters who perished or were lost at sea, and this belief is the aquatic parallel to a similar Kwakiutl notion that the souls of forest hunters achieve corporeal materiality as wolves. The Kwakiutl were not of the belief that this was a positive or a negative result of one's soul; however, there were a myriad of symbolically significant rituals that would ensure that the soul of the whale would once again manifest itself in its original anthropomorphic form.
For an example of a Kwakwaka'wakw feast bowl from the 19th century, please see The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1979.206.932.
Provenance: ex private Ventura County, California, USA collection, acquired prior to 2008
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#153803
Condition
Minor nicks and several stable fissures to base, body, walls, and basin, with light abrasions and fading to original pigment on whales, otherwise intact and excellent. Great remains of original pigment on whales and nice patina throughout.