Seal grease bowl
Maker: Haida
Medium:Wood
Geography: Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia, Canada
Date: 19th-early 20th century
Dimensions:11.6 x 25.9 x 12.9 cm
Object number: 939.31.47
Credit Line: George T. Emmons Collection
Gallery Location:Daphne Cockwell Gallery dedicated to First Peoples art & culture
DescriptionBowls were used for holding eulachon or seal oil into which dried salmon was dipped. The high-end bowl takes its form from the birchbark bowls of the interior peoples; the dashes incised on the bowl’s sides symbolize birchbark. The seal bowl, on the other hand, takes its form from a seal stretching its hind flippers and head in an arch. The seal dish, which does not have oil residue, was likely for serving food.
