overall: 6.3 cm x 5 cm x 2 cm; 2 1/2 in x 1 15/16 in x 13/16 in
Object Name:
block
Object Type:
Wood Engraving
Place made:
United States: District of Columbia, Washington
Date made:
1884
Description:
This engraved woodblock of an “Indian mask from the northwest coast of America” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XIV.23 (p.173) in an article by William Healey Dall (1845-1927) entitled “On Masks, Labrets, and Certain Aboriginal Customs with an Inquiry into the Bearing of Their Geographical Distribution” in the <I>Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.</I> According to the annual report, the image shows a “dancing mask used by the Indians of Cape Flattery, Washington Territory” and was originally drawn by J.G. Swan (1818-1900).