Native American, Pacific Northwest Coast, Tsimshian peoples, ca. mid 20th century CE. A beautiful carved red cedar box comprised of four intricately-painted panels and a base plank. The exterior of each panel boasts a pair of stylized eagle heads, each composed of minimalist linear and geometric shapes in hues of black and red. The upper periphery of each panel is curved in a concave or convex manner, either for purely aesthetic purposes or suggesting a lid once accompanied the vessel. Each of the panels and the base have been glued together, making for an attractive and well-built box! Size: 6.25" W x 7.375" H (15.9 cm x 18.7 cm).

Artistic boxes like these were a means of honing one's woodworking skills while also providing an outlet for creative expression. Vessels like this example were primarily used for storage - for food, tools, clothing, valuables, or trinkets - though were also use in the preparation and serving of meals. Larger examples could be employed as decorative furniture or even room dividers, and were also traded and sold for amounts of other goods depending on the size and quality of the craftsmanship. Boxes displaying more intricate and colorful decorative motifs were viewed as a symbol of prestige and wealth, with only those of the highest caliber being used for ceremonial purposes.

Provenance: private Newport Beach, California, USA collection; ex-private Michigan, USA collection

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#133572

Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, small nicks along faces and upper rims, with light fading to pigmentation. Light area of discoloration from old inventory sticker along top of one interior wall. Old inventory label and stamped maker's mark on base.