figure; lamp (?); bowl | British Museum

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figure; lamp(?); bowl

Object Type: figure; lamp (?); bowl
Museum number: Am1896,0125.1
Title: Object: The Cowichan Bay Bowl
Description: Human figure, lamp (?) made of stone (steatite).
Production ethnic group
Production date: 400BC-AD400 (Marpole Culture)
Findspot: Found/Acquired: Vancouver Island
Materials
Dimensions: Height: 20 centimetres
Curator's comments: This bowl is one of approximately fifty known examples of human-figure bowls from British Columbia, most found along the Fraser River. The purpose and origin of these bowls is unknown, but it is likely, based on their distribution, that they had ritual significance to the Salish peoples of the region, perhaps associated with burial rites and/or water rituals. There is little clear information on the ages of these bowls but they appear to be from a wide age distribution: those with an archaeological context suggest dates of around 1000 CE, but there is anecdotal evidence that they were in use by certain native shamans into the nineteenth century (see Duff 1956). This is one of two such bowls in the British Museum collection, the other being Am1976,03.22 (Duff no.48).; McEwan 2009, p.41 Seated Figure. Soapstone (steatite), Northwest Coast, Strait of Georgia tradition, USA 1st-9th century As in many other figurine traditions in the Americas, this pieces seems intended to replicate in miniature some aspect of social and spiritual life that was especially significant for the community. It is carved in soft soapstone with additional incised detailing of the head and hands. The encircling arms form a receptacle and the object may represent, or perhaps have been used in, shamanic or puberty rites.
Bibliographic references: Inverarity 1950 / Art of the Northwest Coast Indians (No 41); Duff 1956 / Prehistoric Stone Sculpture of the Fraser River and Gulf of Georgia (No.32, p.34); King 1999 / First Peoples, First Contacts: Native Peoples of North America (p.160); McEwan 2009 / Ancient American Art in Detail (p. 41); Mitchell 1990 / Prehistory of the Coasts of Southern British Columbia and Northern Washington (fig.4)
Location: On display (G26/dc7)
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 1980 Feb-1983 Aug, Museum of Mankind, Room 9; Art Made for Strangers: Haida Argillite Carving 1993-95, London, Museum of Mankind, 'Treasures of the Americas' 1999 25 Jun-Present, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Northwest Coast of America"
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1896
Department: Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Registration number: Am1896,0125.1
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: Duff no.32 (Duff catalogue number)