Lot 254
Native American, Northwest Coast, Tlingit or Haida, ca. mid 20th century CE. A stunning silver and copper potlatch feast ladle engraved with the initials F.P. beneath a makers mark (a stylized "C" within a diamond form) on the underside of the copper handle depicting a totemic animal with curled horns (mountain goat or Bighorn sheep) and striking blue abalone inlaid eyes. The silver spoon attached to the copper handle via silver rivets depicts the two-headed serpent (Sisiutl) given its two sets of eyes and cross-hatched snake skin design. According to Franz Boas the word for Sisiutl in Tsimshian is "Laqaqua'sa" ("both sides head") (Boas, "Vocabularies of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian" 1891). The soul catcher figure known as Haboolm Ksinaalgat of the northern Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Haida peoples presents a similar body form, and may derive its form from the Sisiutl. Custom case w/ mirrored base to reflect design motifs on underside. Size: ladle 13" L (33 cm); silver spoon section 6.5" L x 2.875" W (16.5 cm x 7.3 cm); 15.5" W x 16.75" H (39.4 cm x 42.5 cm) in case
This ladle was most likely modeled upon magnificent ceremonial ladles carved from big horn sheep horn and fastened with copper rivets. Traditionally, the handles of these spoons were embellished with either an ancestral figure or a crest design. (Mountain goat horn cores used to create spoon handles from 4,000 years ago were found in the Prince Rupert middens, and antler spoons dating to approximately 3,000 years ago have appeared on the mainland at the Musqueam northeast site near the mouth of the Fraser River.)
At ceremonial feasts, individual horn spoons were the most elaborately decorated implements oftentimes boasting an artistic display, second only to that of totem poles. In fact, spoon handles were oftentimes replicas of the totem poles that graced the front of their owners' houses.
Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection
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