МАЭ № 620-19

Wickered hat

Tlingit

first half of 19th c.

I.G. Voznesenskii's expedition

tree root, paint

Diameter - 51 cm; height - 18.5 cm

The front part of the hat’s brims is covered with an image of the killer-whale with oblong nostrils and large eyes made in the style of a symmetrically-unfolded image. Such shape of eyes is typical of all killer-whale and other sea animals’ drawings. The two “eyes” on the crown of the hat symbolize the animal’s breathing outlet; the two “faces” on the sides of the crown symbolize the back fin, and the tree-fingered hands – the side fins. The tail is drawn in the form of an anthropomorphic head that symbolized the killer-whale’s souls. When depicting this animal, the eye figures were usually outlined with light paint.

Ethnography of America