Charles Edenshaw (Haida, 1834–1924). Clapper in Form of a Fish with Human Head for Finger Lever, pre–1864. Cedar wood, pigment, 9 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (24.8 x 7.0 cm). Collection of Christopher B. Martin, L61.3.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L61.3.1_transp5628.jpg)
Charles Edenshaw (Haida, 1834–1924). Clapper in Form of a Fish with Human Head for Finger Lever, pre–1864. Cedar wood, pigment, 9 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (24.8 x 7.0 cm). Collection of Christopher B. Martin, L61.3.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L61.3.1_acetate_bw.jpg)
Clapper in Form of a Fish with Human Head for Finger Lever
Charles Edenshaw
Arts of the Americas
Animals indigenous to the Northwest Coast region play prominent roles in this group of objects. Rattles were part of chiefs’ ceremonial dance regalia; the Tsimshian example depicts a shaman touching tongues with a frog as he rides on the back of a raven with another frog in its mouth. The clapper by the Haida artist Charles Edenshaw takes the form of a halibut with the face of the fish’s spirit represented on the tail. The Haida frontlet, which would have been attached to a headdress, represents a raven emerging from the mouth of a whale. The Tlingit soul catcher, of a type used by shamans to capture and protect people’s souls during healing ceremonies, depicts a whale with a fin rising from the center of its back.
MEDIUM
Cedar wood, pigment
DATES
pre–1864
DIMENSIONS
9 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (24.8 x 7.0 cm)
(show scale)
INSCRIPTIONS
Written on object: "from Beasley Collection, H.M.S. Grewler, 1864."
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER
L61.3.1
CREDIT LINE
Collection of Christopher B. Martin
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Carved wood clapper in the form of a halibut with the face of the fish’s spirit represented on the tail.
Condition: good.
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Charles Edenshaw (Haida, 1834–1924). Clapper in Form of a Fish with Human Head for Finger Lever, pre–1864. Cedar wood, pigment, 9 3/4 x 2 3/4 in. (24.8 x 7.0 cm). Collection of Christopher B. Martin, L61.3.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, L61.3.1_transp5628.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, L61.3.1_transp5628.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
