2-741-779 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Spoon, late 1800s-early 1900s. Elaborate utensils were the "family silver" of Northwest Coast noble clans and were used on formal feasting occasions when display of the family’s myths and crests, sculpted on the handles, was appropriate. An imposing eagle presides over the ladle; a bear’s head appears on the underside of the bowl. The small spoon’s handle is reminiscent of a crest (totem) pole.