A rare Ceremonial Bent-Wood Bowl

Collected in 1889 in B.C., Canada

Ceremonial bowl.

North America. Canada. British Columbia. Tsimshian or Haida people.

Alder wood (?), kerfed and bent for all four sides, cedar wood for the bottom, sewn with beaten cedar root cord.
Patina of age and use (now dry) with notable traces of long traditional use dating from before the collection date (woodworm treated with anoxia).
Original polychromy with a small layer of red ochre inside, especially in the engraved corners.
Inlays of sections of abalone (Haliotis) and marine snail opercula (Pomaulax gibberosus?) on the two upper edges of the short sides.

Length: 55 cm. Width: 41 cm. Height: 22 cm. Weight 3208 gr.
Late XVIIIth / early XIXth century. Collected before 1889.

Having long served as a plant-box in the family castle, this box is sold with its European waterproof protective insert in zinc from the early twentieth century.

Origin.
Collected in British Columbia by Counts Abel (1851-1917) and Georges de Massol de Rebetz (1862-1948) during the summer of 1889 during the second private expedition led by their cousin Xavier de Monteil (1861-1939), accompanied by photographer Georges de la Sablière (1863-1898). Georges de Massol de Rebetz Collection. By descent, the family collection since.

According to the documents remaining in the family and others in the collections of the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac including the diary of Mr. Xavier de Monteil, the stay of the young Breton explorers was relatively long: from April to September 1889. Xavier de Monteil recorded a lot of information as well as drawings and even, rare for the time, photographs provided by his friend Georges de la Sablière, without mentioning the collection of objects from the collection of Georges de Massol. The latter seriously injured towards the end of their stay was repatriated to France and seems to have left no writings.

Several hypotheses of collection are plausible: either the box was acquired, or received as a gift, from one of the great chiefs they met, or the box comes from the shaman In-to-nook that de Monteil frequented and whose portrait George de la Sablière photographed; or the box was acquired from one of the stations or outposts along their passage, or finally, it could be received as a gift or bought from Lt. George Thornton Emmons, a renowned ethnologist already known to Georges de la Sablière during a previous trip, and who gathered several thousand works from the region for the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Presentation.
This box, or quadrangular food container, is exceptional in several ways: first of all, we are in the presence of an iconic object of British Columbia culture collected at an early time, brought back by important people in very interesting conditions. The box is in an exceptional state of conservation; although worm-eaten (now stabilized by anoxia), it has retained almost all of its inlays, its original polychromy, and has not undergone subsequent alterations.

Finally, the construction of this object is remarkable. It should be noted that the bottom and the sides are sewn together, and that the outer walls, which are beautifuly decorated with low-relief motifs representing totem, caste and rank identifiers, are carved so as to present a façade which is slightly curved outwards and concave inside and that each of the upper edges of the short sides is inlaid with a double row of snail shell opercula. The upper edges of the short sides are curved and those of the long sides concave. Another remarkable aspect is the decoration engraved with linear patterns that is found inside at the four corners.

The well-known imagery of the Native American cultures of the Northwest Coast is renowned for its refinement and plastic quality as well as its interlocking depictions, often poly-iconic and organized in a disconcerting "asymmetrical symmetry”. The low-relief sculptures depict important motifs and figures (mainly zoomorphic) related to the owner of the receptacle. These are the family heraldic totems and coats of arms indicating the origin, lineage, membership and rank of the owner.

This box, or quadrangular food container, is exceptional in several ways: first of all, we are in the presence of an iconic object of British Columbia culture collected at an early time, brought back by important people in very interesting conditions. The box is in an exceptional state of conservation; although worm-eaten (now stabilized by anoxia), it has retained almost all of its inlays, its original polychromy, and has not undergone subsequent alterations.

Finally, the construction of this object is remarkable. It should be noted that the bottom and the sides are sewn together, and that the outer walls, which are beautifully decorated with low-relief motifs representing totem, caste and rank identifiers, are carved so as to present a façade which is slightly curved outwards and concave inside and that each of the upper edges of the short sides is inlaid with a double row of snail shell opercula. The upper edges of the short sides are curved and those of the long sides concave. Another remarkable aspect is the decoration engraved with linear patterns that is found inside at the four corners.

The well-known imagery of the Native American cultures of the Northwest Coast is renowned for its refinement and plastic quality as well as its interlocking depictions, often poly-iconic and organized in a disconcerting "asymmetrical symmetry”. The low-relief sculptures depict important motifs and figures (mainly zoomorphic) related to the owner of the receptacle. These are the family heraldic totems and coats of arms indicating the origin, lineage, membership and rank of the owner.

Description.
In general, ceremonial food bowls/boxes of this type represent a single totemic or heraldic character. The four sides here represent the four views of the sea bear, a supernatural being with the head and legs of the bear and the tail and dorsal fin of the whale:

Side A (short):
Main figure: Seen head-on we have the face of the sea bear. The central hatched area represents its nose with the nostrils underneath. On each side, inside its rectangular eyes, we can distinguish so-called "salmon/trout" faces as well as the dorsal fin of a killer whale.
Secondary figure: located in the upper center of the panel between the ears of the bear is a zoomorphic being with bulging eyes and an extended tongue.

B/D sides (long):
The two side panels have "asymmetrical symmetry" with a shoulder joint located towards the front of each panel. A large central ovoid represents the belly of the sea bear and its legs with long claws curved below towards the back.

Side C (short):
Main figure: The panel presents a set of patterns that can be read as representing a grimacing face. This is actually the rear view of the sea bear. The two large ovoids represent the joints of its whale tail whose two flukes rise to form a large "u".
Secondary figure: In the center of the whale's tail is the same face with bulging eyes and extended tongue as the one represented on the panel on the A side, representing here in a very stylized manner the dorsal fin curved backwards, framed by two heads of wolves or bears in profile.
The inside of the bowl / container is decorated with engravings reminiscent of the patterns of the woven mats in the four corners.

Method of manufacture.
The manufacture of these receptacles used to contain and present food or fat of fermented fish during daily and ceremonial meals is remarkably technical. This is the so-called bent-wood technique that uses the very old method of thermoforming.
the board is kerfed or thinned in the places where it will be folded. It is then heated with steam in order to soften the fibers of the wood so that it can be bent into shape and dried to form. The four sides of the box are therefore a single board whose four panels are delimited by three "v" shaped kerfs on the inner side. The junction of the two ends forming the fourth corner is mortised and pegged so as to make it watertight. The lower edge of the four sides is then inserted into housings dug in the top of the baseplate and then sewn together from below with the stitching hidden at the bottom of a channel to protect it from friction. This method ensures a tight seal which is then reinforced by the swelling of the wood which absorbs the humidity and grease until saturation.

Function.
A food container with highly ornate decor is an object of prestige and value. Property of a high-ranking person it indicates rank and lineage. It is used to present food during ceremonial feasts, given on the occasion of important ceremonies and festivals such as during potlatches – the great ostentatious festivals of the North West Coast.

Conclusion.
We have here the discovery or rediscovery of an exceptional art object forgotten for over one hundred years. This is a very important and rare testimony, remarkably preserved; an iconic artifact of an ancient and thriving Native American culture on Canada's west coast. It is a prestigious object made for a high-ranking figure, used at moments of great importance and collected at a turning point in the history of British Columbia's cultures.

by Anthony JP Meyer