A TLINGIT MOUNTAIN SHEEP HORN COMB

细节

A TLINGIT MOUNTAIN SHEEP HORN COMB
carved of mountain sheep horn (or possibly baleen), with neat row of teeth surmounted by a bear with oval eyes and wide dentated mouth, its attenuated arms draped and featuring paws with long claws in front of chest, ears at top enclosing humanoid faces and with a small bear head between them, the back, with two partially cross-hatched human feet, one with six toes, enclosed by a thin, grooved rectangular band, inscribed in red paint,1772
Length: 5¾ in. (14.6 cm.)

来源

Collected by Edward G. Fast, who was attached to the command of Jeff C. Davis, Sitka, 1867-68.
Ex-collection: Peabody Museum, Harvard University

出版

Illustrated in Yakutat South Indian Art of The Northwest Coast by Allen Wardwell

拍品专文

This is a rare and exceptional comb depicting the head, torso and forelegs of a bear. Humanoid faces are contained within the bear's ears and a bear cub's face peaks out between them. The reverse side features two human feet with cross-hatching on the soles; intriguingly the right foot has six toes. The decorative surround framing the feet may well represent a stylized bear's den.

Little has been published on combs of this type. Some authorities suggest they were used by women in dressing their hair; others imply shamanic use; while still others suggest they were employed by weavers to card mountain goat wool. Whatever the application, this classic evocative carving was old when it was collected in 1867-68.

Jay Stewart
Peter Macnair
April 26, 2001