Lot 115
Unidentified Tlingit Artist
Additional Images
Provenance:
Charles and Francis Reif Collection by repute
Seahawk Auctions, Burnaby, BC, 27 Oct 2008, lot 72
Private Collection, British Columbia
Note:
The Tlingit Ixt' (shaman) wore amulets either as individual pendants, as part of a group making up necklaces, or sewn to tunics or aprons. The vast majority of examples are pierced to accommodate attachment. The imagery on the present example punningly intermingles the form of a raven with a devilfish or octopus, a creature often associated with shamanastic activities. The form of this example is unusual in its explicit articulation of the head and eyes of the devilfish, whose presence is more typically implied by rows of tendrils punctuated with the creature's many suckers.
Related Works:
Allen Wardwell, Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art (New York: Monacelli Press, 2009), 174, pl. 209, pl. 211.
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