Eagle Shawl Collar Coat
1990 - 91
From 1979 to 1993 Haida artists Robert Davidson and Dorothy Grant collaborated on an haute couture clothing line, FeastWear, that drew inspiration from traditional button robes, fashioned from imported wool and mother-of-pearl buttons beginning about 1850. The formline designs on FeastWear garments, however, are not Haida crests like the robes, but are creatures taken from Haida oral traditions. The broad collar of this coat displays an asymmetrical eagle design in red appliqué, with its profile head on the right side of the collar and its body and wings on the left.
Wool, cashmere, silk, mother of pearl buttons
46 x 21 1/2 in. (116.8 x 54.6 cm)
Ancient and Native American Art Acquisition Fund
2014.13
Provenance: The artists; purchased from the artists by Sue Dean, New York, 1992; purchased from Ms. Dean by Seattle Art Museum (Ancient and Native American Art Acquisition Fund), April 2014
Photo: Elizabeth Mann