Hat (xaad dajaangaa)

1895

First Nations, Haida, 1839 - 1920

Native American, Haida, 1842 - 1926

Conical spruce root hats functioned as rain hats and to display inherited crest designs, like the killer-whale painted here. Some hats became treasured heirlooms and, in the late 19th century, a number of Haida artists produced them for sale to outsiders. Isabella’s signature traits are in her weaving style, while the two-color four-pointed star on the top is known to be Charles’ personal mark.

Spruce root (twill twining) and paint

5 1/2 in. (13.97 cm)

Diam.: 17 in.

Gift of John H. Hauberg

83.226

Provenance: Michael R. Johnson, Seattle, Washington, until 1971; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1971-1983; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Native Visions: Northwest Coast Art, 18th Century to the Present, Oct. 1, 1998 - Jan. 31, 1999.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Box Of Daylight: Nortwest Coast Indian Art, Sept. 15, 1983 - Jan. 8, 1984.

Published ReferencesSelected Works, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 76.

The Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1995, p. 106.

Brown, Steven C., Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century, Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1998, pp. 116-117.

Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures, London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 33.

Bringhurst, Robert. A Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World. London: The Folio Society, 2015; reproduced p. 203.

Holm, Bill, and Peter L. Corey. The Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1984; p. 48, reproduced fig. 58.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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