North America | Canada
Haida Spoon
Canada
Ceremonial spoon
Haida
Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii)
British Columbia, Northwest Coast, Canada
19th or early 20th century
Goat horn
Height: 19 cm – 7 ½ in.
Provenance
Collection Franck Marcelin, Aix-en-Provence
Haida Spoon Marcelin 19 cm / Galerie Flak
Price on request
As highlighted by Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (in their study and exhibition Feeding the Ancestors), participating in a potlatch feast was a profoundly spiritual ritual as much as a social gathering. As guests partook in the meal, the ancestral beings intricately carved onto the spoon handles were symbolically fed, honored, and brought to life. The elaborately carved handle depicts a rich iconography of supernatural beings, spirit guides, natural forces, and animal and human figures. Through an intricate stacking of lineage crests, each handle conveys inherited clan histories—recalling, in miniature, the monumental structure of heraldic crest poles, commonly known as "totems".
Demonstrating extraordinary technical virtuosity and aesthetic balance, this feast spoon serves as a sacred bridge between utilitarian craft, ceremonial prestige, and ancestral memory.
Demonstrating extraordinary technical virtuosity and aesthetic balance, this feast spoon serves as a sacred bridge between utilitarian craft, ceremonial prestige, and ancestral memory.
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