Club
ca. 1850
The design on this club may represent an elephant seal, a rare but not unknown sea mammal in Northwest Coast waters. The protruding proboscis on this great mammal is sculpted on top, while the design on the surface—skillfully rendered in formline—reveals the face, body, and front and back flippers. Clubs made from the jawbone of the whale, like this one, as well as those fashioned from stone, wood and metals, are found along the Northwest Coast.
Whalebone
1 x 5 in. (2.54 x 12.7 cm)
L.: 22 in.
Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund
97.37