Body Stamp

NA1264

From: Alaska | Klukwan

Curatorial Section: American

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Object Number NA1264
Current Location Collections Storage
Culture Chilkat | Tlingit
Provenience Alaska | Klukwan
Culture Area Northwest Coast Culture Area
Section American
Materials Wood
Description

A wooden body stamp with a handle at one end. The design is carved in relief and represents a small tina or copper shield. It includes an upper section with a central eye flanked above and below by stylized rectangles, suggesting ears. The lower section is split vertically with a curved design of three lines on each side, suggesting ribs. The stamp would be coated in animal fat, then covered with colored pigments before being applied to a dancer's skin.

Length 17.1 cm
Width 4.3 cm
Credit Line Alaska Ethnological Expedition, George Byron Gordon, 1905

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