Native North America, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit / late 1800s–early 1900s
Feast Ladle
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Feast Ladle as miscellaneous (Native North America, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit · late 1800s–early 1900s).
An imposing eagle presides over the bowl of this impressive ladle.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this miscellaneous as horn, bone, copper, abalone shell inlay.
The museum's collection notes: Elaborate utensils, valuable possessions of Northwest Coast noble clans, were used during potlatch feasts. An imposing eagle hovers, patron-like, over this ladle’s bowl and the bounty it once served; a bear’s head appears on the underside of the bowl. Both may be crests, motifs that, like European heraldry, were exclusive to important families and referred to their histories and rights to control land and resources.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtFeast LadleOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.