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Lot Essay
La corne de mouton devait être importée à Haïda Gwaii. Les plats comme le présent ouvrage sont donc relativement rares par rapport aux bols en bois. La tête d’un ours orne chaque extrémité, les petits personnages saisissent les lèvres et sortent de la gueule de l’ours. De nombreuses histoires de la côte Nord-Ouest racontent les diverses interactions entre les humains et les ours : parmi les exemples, Kaats relate l'histoire d'un homme qui épousa un ours et qui eut une progéniture mi-ourse, mi-humaine. Cette oeuvre semble avoir été formée dans un réel moule. Sa forme est parfaitement régulière, avec des bords droits, évasés, et un rebord lisse et incurvé, la forme de la « cuvette » est elle-même un tour de force sculptural. Les deux extrémités sont identiques, la forme générale évoquant probablement celle d’un canoë. Grâce à la délicatesse de la sculpture, au subtil bas-relief représentant les motifs linéaires animaliers et humains en surface, ce bol est représentatif de l’excellence de l’artisanat Haïda.
Le Burke Museum possède un bol quasiment identique, probablement sculpté par le même artiste (inv. n° 1-3003), publié dans Holm, B., Spirit and Ancestor. A Century of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum, Washington, 1987, n° 60.
Since sheep horn had to be imported to Haida Gwaii, dishes like the present work are comparatively rare in comparison with wooden bowls. A bear's face decorates each end, with little men grasping the lips and emerging from the bear's mouth. Many Northwest Coast stories speak of various interactions between humans and bears. One is the story of Kaats, a man who married a bear and had a human-bear offspring. The subject work appears to have been formed in a real mold. It is perfectly regular in form, with straight, flaring sides and smoothly curved rim, the bowl form itself is a sculptural tour de force. Both ends are the same, but high, and the general shape of the sides is likely reminiscent of that of a foreshortened canoe. With its excellent carving of the flat design, the subtle bas relief representing the animal and human formlines on the surface, this bowl is representative of the highest standards of Haida excellence and craftsmanship.
The Burke Museum has a very similar bowl, probably carved by the same artist (inv. no. 1-3003), published in Holm, B., Spirit and Ancestor. A Century of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum, Washington, 1987, no. 60.
Le Burke Museum possède un bol quasiment identique, probablement sculpté par le même artiste (inv. n° 1-3003), publié dans Holm, B., Spirit and Ancestor. A Century of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum, Washington, 1987, n° 60.
Since sheep horn had to be imported to Haida Gwaii, dishes like the present work are comparatively rare in comparison with wooden bowls. A bear's face decorates each end, with little men grasping the lips and emerging from the bear's mouth. Many Northwest Coast stories speak of various interactions between humans and bears. One is the story of Kaats, a man who married a bear and had a human-bear offspring. The subject work appears to have been formed in a real mold. It is perfectly regular in form, with straight, flaring sides and smoothly curved rim, the bowl form itself is a sculptural tour de force. Both ends are the same, but high, and the general shape of the sides is likely reminiscent of that of a foreshortened canoe. With its excellent carving of the flat design, the subtle bas relief representing the animal and human formlines on the surface, this bowl is representative of the highest standards of Haida excellence and craftsmanship.
The Burke Museum has a very similar bowl, probably carved by the same artist (inv. no. 1-3003), published in Holm, B., Spirit and Ancestor. A Century of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the Burke Museum, Washington, 1987, no. 60.