Helmet

Helmet in the shape of a head that combines anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features. It has a type of headband on the forehead with copper applications, with marked external ears, wide leather eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a wide nose and a mouth with long rows of embedded caps for teeth. On the reverse, it has a sketched drawing of a face. It has two leather strips to secure the helmet under the chin. This helmet or morion is considered as one of the masterpieces of the Tlinglit culture and is part of their war attire. Among other materials used in its creation, this piece has copper, an element of high symbolic value in this culture. The owner of any object made partly or completely from this material was someone of high rank among the group. This piece may have been collected during the Malaspina expedition when they stopped in the Yacutat Bay in June 1791. It could be the helmet that the armoured Native American wears depicted in Tomás Suría’s journal, one of the draftsmen of the expedition.