C. Nooteboom
A peculiar piece of Northwest Coast sculpture
In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 123 (1967), no: 1, Leiden, 134-140
This PDF-file was downloaded from http://www.kitlv-journals.nl
A PECULIAR PIECE OF NORTHWEST
COAST SCULPTURE
o
ne of the finest specimens of primitive art I know is to be
found in a private collection in the Netherlands (Pl. 1). I t
is a small bird niade out of the vertebral arch of a whale. The neural
spine of this vertebra is transformed into neck and head of the bird.
The projecting parts near the neural spine (praezygaaophyses) are
cut off to form the shortened wings. The beak is a small incision in the
back part of the neural spine. The eyes are simple incised circles. The
legs of the anima1 are formed by parts of the arch. The upper part
of the arch that is used to make the bird easily separates itself from
the vertebra. The dividing plane is the base of the bird.
The parts of the surface of the vertebra which became parts cd the
bird got a fine patina, probably the result of long coatinued polishing.
The cut-off parts, especially the ends of the wings, and the upper part
of the head, show the inner texture of the bone with a darker and
granulated surface. Around the neck we see three horizontal bands of
a pale, washed-out red cdour which passes on between the wings.
Professor Dr. L. D. Brongersma, director of the National Museum
of Natura1 History in Leiden, determined that the bird is a part o£ a
vertebral arch of a Balaenoptera physalus (rorqual, fin-whale) and
showed me the skeleton of such a whale. About the fortieth vertebra,
at the beginning of the tail, showed an arch with a shape similar to
that of our bird; only rather modest retouching would have been
necessary to achieve this refined form of a bird from the natura1 shape.
The origin of this beautiful sculpture is unknown. However, everybody who is more or less conversant with primitive art wil1 not hesitate
to ascribe it to the No~rthwestCoast Indians. In the sea near their
habitat the Balaenoptera is indeed not uncommon. But an investigation
int0 the literature was unsuccessful: no similar object was found, and
besides, the greater part of the Northwest Coast sculpture reveales an
exuberante of exaggerated, often bulbous forms among which there
seems to be no place fol- the discreet form of our bird, which is more
PLATE I .
Image of a Raven sculptured froili the vertebral arch of
a fin-whale (Balaenoptera physalus), British Columbia.
Private collection.
A PECULIAR PIECE OF NORTHWEST COAST SCULPTURE.
V
\
t
8
135
introvert than extravert, and is built up of a few simple curved planes.
The facts that there is no hesitation in ascribing the bird to British
Columbia and that a similar object could not be traced, are sufficient
motives to follow up the investigation. T o begin with, there is the
material: a vertebral arch of a whale. Those maritime tribes were
certainly acquainted with the whale, which had an important rôle in
their mythology. They killed the whale whenever one was found
stranded, and the flesh and the blubber were welcome for food and
for trade. The Nootka, in the South, actively hunted the whale.1
"Whale-bone was used extensively for the rnassive war clubs with
carved heads which were in use at the time of Cook's arrival." z
Other things than old war clubs are alm sculptured of whale bone.
Compare the Exhibition Catalogue by Allen Wardwell 3 : Nr. 147,
Shaman's charm; Nr. 148, idem; Nr. 74, a Tlingit Raven mask. The
last one is possibly made from a whale vertebra. Compare further a
raven head "carved of the posterior part of a whale vertebra - an
exarnple of adaptation of design to a given natura. form. Shape and
lateral pairs of perforation permit speculation whether it might have
served as forehead ornament." 4 Another example of the use of a whale
vertebra as material for sculpturing is g i v a by Inverarity; 5 this
sculpture shows a human face and the head of a Raven; this object
is Nr. 38.175.1 of the Musée de l'Homme.6
With regard to the material there seems sufficient proof now that
our bird could be from the Ncn-thwest Coast Indians, but still there
are some questions on style and representation to be answered.
The author who seems most concrete in analyzing the art styles of
these peoples is Paul S. Wingert.7 Besides a clear realism, which
"describes life forms with considerable accuracy", we find in the
Northwest Coast art "distortion, simplification, and bisection [as]
Rob& Bruce Inverarity, Art of fhe Northwest Coast Indians, University of
Columbia Press, 1950, p. 18, 19.
Audrey Hawthorn, People of the Potlatch, Native Art and Culture of the
Pacific Northwest Coart, p. 36.
Allen Wardwell, Yakutat South, Zndian Art of the Northwest Coast, The
Art Institute. Chicago, 1%4.
Ralph C. ~ l t k a n ~, i r t h w e s tCoast Indian Art, Altman Antiques, Los Angeles,
fig. 5.
~Gverarity,fig. 162.
See also: Raoul #Harcourt, Arts de PAmériqrtc, Paris, 1948, fig. 17, or the
English translation, Primitive Arts of the Amcricas, New York - Paris, 1950.
Paul S. Wingert, Tsimshian Sculptr~re,Publications of the American Ethnological Society, XVII, The Tsimshian, their Arts and Music.
136
C. NOOTEBOOM.
adaptations of this realism in order to apply the form to a particular
surface or shape."*
As to our bird, we can admire the ingenuity with which the artist
has adapted the form of his conception to the shape of his material.
With this he is entirely in line with Northwest Coast art.
Writing on masks and totem-poles, Wingert says : "The principles
of design are closely based on the maximum utilization of the original
shape of the material." 9 Looking at our bird we see first the bold
outline of neck and head, for which the neural spine of the vertebra
has been used nearly without any retouching. The projecting parts at
each side cd the neural spine (praezygapophyses) and the arch itself,
have been cut off to form the (clipped) wings. Parts of the arch form
the broad legs on which the bird is standing. The space between the
wings and between the legs is formed by the neural canal in which
the spinal cord originally ran. As we have seen already, only at the
head and on the ends of the wings has the original surface been cut,
so that the inner texture becomes visible. Except for these few
parts, the surface of the bird is the surface of the vertebral arch. The
original shape of the vertebra has been utilized to a rernarkably high
degree, and this is a. further indication for the suppsed origin of this
piece of art.
Wingert continues his analysis of this art as follows: "The bold
handling of planes, frequently placed at sharp angles to each other,
together with a sculptural projection and recession of parts, give the
surface remarkable contrasts in depth and in form." 10 These words
are also highly significant for our little bird.
As a general characterization of the Northwest Coast art, Wingert
says further 11 :
.
"It is necessary first to recognize.. two basic styles: the one, linear-surface
style, and the other a sculptural ,volume-depth style. Neither one is mutually
exclusive of the other, although there is often greater emphasis in tribal styles
on one or on the other." The author recognizes three groups of stylistic preferences in this a r t : "(1) a realism in which the visual representation of natural
forms is stressed; (2) an adaptive realism in which natural forms are modified
in order to accomodate them to a shape or surface; and (3) a conventionalized
symbolism in which the most identifying parts or details of a subject are reduced
to stand for the entire subject!'
s id. p.
id. p.
g
75.
86.
id. p. 86.
id. p. 91, 92.
A PECULIAR PIECE OF NORTHWEST COAST SCULPTURE.
137
Our bird belongs clearly in the basic sculptural volume-depth style
with the second preference lor an adaptive realism.
"In Tsimshian masks and totempoles a sculptural rather than a linear style is
dominant. This sculptural expression is simplified or reduced t o essentials and
conveys matter whenever possible in a realistic way or in a slightly adaptive
realistic manner. Linear treatment and a conventionalized symbolism are seldom
found in this art. The sculptural handling is controlled and moderate." 12
"Tsimshian a r t . . is an art of restraint and of a simplified clarity in both its
style features and its expressive intentions. There is less overstatement of content
or over-elaboration of detail than in any other tribal art of the Northern Northwest Coast area. The lucidity of form development and the economy of rendering
detail are typical of this art. In a region where sculpture is the important means
of aesthetic expression, Tsimshian art represents a particularly high accomplishment." 13
.
About Haida art Wingert rernarks,l4 that it
"ernphasizes almost in equal measure both the sculptural and the linear styles.
The treatment of subject matter tends more towards an adaptive-realisme than
that of the Tsimshian. In certain instances strongly sculptured and simplified
realistic figures appear; and in other examples, conventionalized-symbolism is
resorted to."
A Haida origin of the bird does not seem impossible, but Tsimshian
origin looks more probable.
"Tlingit art stresses a linear overlay of realistically carved forms. Line is
customarily used to emphasize small scale details. . .usually rendered in a conventionalized symbolic manner and detract from the basic realism of the form." 15
A Tlingit extraction for our bird is thus not likely.
"Kwakiutl art relies upon often spectacularly sculptured forms, although it
too utilizes the possibility of linear-surface design. Realistic and adaptive natura1
forms therefore dominate; but a conventionalized-syn~bolicexpression is sometimes resorted to!' 16
Our whale-bone bird being more discreet than spectacular, a Kwakiutl
origin seerns unlikely, though not impossible.
When we examine the extensive literature on Northwest Coact art,
we find numerous representations of birds. Nearly always they have
stark protruding bills, or beaks of which the upper part is distinctly
bent over the underpart. Characteristic for our bird is the broad column
of neck and head, which form one uninterrupted whole, confined
between two parallel lines fore and aft. The beak hardly protrudes,
and is rendered by a small incision. A careful examination of the
l2
l3
l4
l5
l6
id.
id.
id.
id.
id.
p.
p.
p.
p.
p.
92.
94.
94.
94.
94.
138
C. NOOTEBOOM.
literature reveals the existente of sonle parallels or near-parallels of
this form.
Robert Tyler Davis, in his book on the Rasmussen Collection,l7 gives
Fig. 1.
Painted wooden hat, combining eagle and killer whale motifs, Haida.
Robert Tyler Davis, Native Arts of the Pacific Northwest fram the Rasmussen
collection of the Portland Art Mueum, Stanford, 1949, pl. 24.
Fig. 2.
Stone bird charm, Tsimshian, Idem, nr. 61.
Fig. 3.
Implement for shredding cedar bark, Vancouver Island. Museum fur Völkerkunde, Berlin, Nr. I V A 2001.
Franz Boas, The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island, Memoirs of the Jesup North
Pacific Expedition, vol. V/& p. 372, fig. 66c.
l7
Robert Tyler Davis, Native -4rts of the Pacific Northwest from the RUSmmsen Collection of the Portland Art Museum, Stanford, 1949, pl. 24.
A PECULIAR PIECE OF NORTHWEST COAST SCULPTURE.
139
a photograph of a "painted wooden hat, combining eagle and killerwhale motives" of the Haida. As we see in our fig. 1, where the bird
motif of this hat is rendered, the details of the bird's head are interpreted in a linear sîyle. The form of the head however shows a resemblance to the head of our whale-bone bird, although the upper part
of the beak i's more bent than with our bird.
Another photograph in Davis' bookl* reprduces a "stone bird
charm" of the Tsimshian (see fig. 2). The head of this bird charm
shows an expressive likeness, though the f o r n ~is sculptured in the
round, and the neck and head of the whale-bone bird are rather flat,
due to the natura1 shape of the neural spine.
The nlost striking resemblance is to be fmnd in an illustration of
Franz BW' The ~ w a k ~ uoft l Vancouver Island,lg which renders an
"Implement for shredding cedar-bark", in the collections of the Museum
fur Völlcerkunde of Berlin (Nr. IV. A 2201) (see fig. 3). Head and
neck of this object form one whole, just as in the wlmle-bone bird, and
in accordance with the general form of the implement, tliey are made
of a wooden board and thus flat. The lines which enclose the form
are nearly parallel. The beak only protudes slightly, and is marked
by a curved incision. The eyes are incised circles, just as in our bird.
The neck is decorated with vertical lines of smal1 incised spots.
This resemblance is indeed a striking one, and proves that in the
rich world of sculptured forms of the Northwest Coast art at least the
head and neck of our bird are represented in at least one other specimen.
T o sum up: there are sufficient indications that the impression of
so many people that the whale-bone'bird is a product of the Indians
of British Columbia is right. The material, whale bone, is not too
rarely used for sculpture by these tribes. And I cannot imagine another
art region in the world where this material was in use for sculptural
art with stylistic forms wherein this bird might have a place. On the
contrary, comparison of this art object with the analysis of Northwest
Coast art by Wingert proves that it matches very wel1 the given
characteristics. And more tlmn that: it is possible to say more about
its origin. I t is on stylistic considerations most probably of Tsimshian
extraction.
l8
l0
id. fig. 61.
Franz Boas, The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island, Memoirs of the Jesup North
Pacific Expedition, vol. X/2, p. 372, fig. 66c.
140
C. NOOTEBOOM.
There is still a last question to be answered: what kind of bird has
been represented in this part of a whale vertebra ?
When scrutinizing the numerous illustrations in the literature there
c m exist no doubt on this point. We can say with certainty that the
head and beak of our bird iconographically depict those parts of the
Raven. Thunderbird and Raven have each a rôle of utrnost importance
in the mythology of the Nmthwest Coast Indians. The Raven in his
cannibalistic form is Qoaqoa.xualanuxsiwae, and closely resembles
Baxbakualanuxsiwae, the cannibal monster. This mythological figure
is frequently depicted on the totem-pole. But the Raven is also
Kuexalalagilis, "Counsellor of the wmld", who liberates the sun and
gives the daylight to the world. The Raven is thus a typical culture
hero too.20
An object oh primitive art is definitely made within the narrow
limits of the tradition of the culture where it originates. As we have
seen this is certainly the case with our bird. But an object of prirnitive
art also reflects the personality of its maker. When this man is a
mediocre artist the object of art he made will to a high degree be in
line with the requirements of the tradition and will bear few or no
personal characteristics. But when the artist is a man of quality, he
will be able to give his product a personal stamp, which reflects his
personality and his artistic ability. The artist who made the bird was
certainly a man with extraordinary qualifications, who within the
limits set by tradition could make sonlething outstanding. H e has not
only seen the presence of a bird in the shape of this particular piece
of bone, but he had also the self-control to restrict hhself to the little
retouching necessary to render the material in an ideal manner within
the needs dictated by tradition. Other artists of the Northwest Coast
seem to have had the same idea of making a bird out of a similar piece
oh whale bone. But when we cmpare for example the item already
mentioned in the pssession of the Musée de 1'Homme (38.175.1), which
is certainly a piece of quality, we get a high respect for the maker of
our bird. He confined himself to the utmost soberness and did not
use the broad opportunities for "beautifying" his handiwork with extra
decoration, which surely would have had no other result than to reduce
its aesthetic quality.
C. NOOTEBOOM
20
See i.a. Franz Boas, The social organization a d the secret societies of the
Kwakiutl Indians, Report of rhe United States National Museum for 1895,
Washington, 1897, G. W. Locher, The serpent in Kzvakiutl religion, a study
in primitive cultwe, Leiden, 1932.