Wooden Spindle-Whorl

A wooden spindle whorl collected by Lt. George Thornton Emmons from the Cowichan people of British Columbia, Canada. Carved with a sinuous wolf-like creature that bends its flexible body around the circular whorl to catch its tail in its mouth. A series of crescent and trigon shapes that might represent the creature's spinal anatomy drive the folow in a circular direction, imparting a perceptible sense of motion or activity.

From record card: "Same as "A" except quite thin and the carved representation of a wolf-like animal with its tail in its mouth is not carved all over like "C & D", but only has a row of arrow-shaped points running down the middle of the body. About 2 1/2" of the left edge has been irregularly broken off (not damaging the carving.) Loaned to the Whitney Museum of American Art on Sept. 10, 1971. Returned ... 2-9-72. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 5e, pg. 460."

Illus. Fig. 3.15, p. 44 in Brotherton, Barbara. 2008. S'abadeb = The gifts : Pacific Coast Salish arts and artists. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum in association with University of Washington Press. Figure caption notes: "The sinuous creature delicately carved into the darkened wood (perhaps maple wood) bends a flexible body around the circular whorl to catch his tail in his mouth. The series of crescent and trigon shapes that might represent his spinal anatomy drive the flow in a circular direction, imparting a perceptible sense of motion or activity. Both the economy of carving and the particular structure of the eye are reminiscent of older styles, suggesting a much earlier date of manufacture (ca. 1800) than the time this piece was collected - at the turn of the twentieth century."