Rare Tsimshian Ceremonial Club

$17,000.00

Nisga’a People – Gingolx (Kincolith) Village, Nass River Mouth, British Columbia

Circa 1870

Hardwood

Height: 11.25 inches (28.5 cm)

Provenance: Seattle area private collection.

Old hand inscription reads “Gifted by Chief of the Nasgah Indians.…the bear tribe...Kincolith of Nass 1897”.

Created in the 19th century by a Tsimshian artist, this finely carved ceremonial club would have been the cherished property of a high-ranking chief. As the head of one of the four matrilineal clans, consisting of the Killer Whale, the Eagle, the Wolf, and the Raven clans, the chief presided over both secular and religious functions, as well as elaborate masked dances during the winter ceremonies.The highest-ranking Tsimshian chiefs were eligible to become exclusive members of a secret society known as ludzista, or the Destroyer cult. New initiates would undergo a ritual of possession by the protector spirit of the cult, and while possessed, they wielded these small, specialized wooden clubs adorned with the chief’s crest animal, to ritually destroy delicate cedar boxes and other sacred items. These ceremonial clubs would continue to serve the chief as emblems of tribal rank and secret society membership.

The ceremonial club presented here is skillfully carved from dense hardwood, likely from the Pacific Yew tree, and is surmounted by a classically rendered crouching wolf. The club displays a well-worn glossy patina, and the striking surface of the club, centered at the back of the head, bears the markings and indentations consistent with the frenzied rituals of the Destroyer cult.   Each of the four Tsimshian clans were associated with two primary animal crests. The two crests representing the Wolf clan were the wolf and the bear, a traditional pairing that helps elucidate the old inscription on the back of the figure which in part reads “Gifted by Chief of the Nisgah Indians…the bear tribe…Kincolith of Nass 1897”. Though these ceremonial clubs are exceedingly rare, an identical example can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum – catalog number 1/4192; that club having been collected by Lieutenant George Thornton Emmons at Gingolx Village, Nass River, in the 1880’s.

Art Loss Register certificate provided #S00253769

INQUIRE HERE

Purchase

Nisga’a People – Gingolx (Kincolith) Village, Nass River Mouth, British Columbia

Circa 1870

Hardwood

Height: 11.25 inches (28.5 cm)

Provenance: Seattle area private collection.

Old hand inscription reads “Gifted by Chief of the Nasgah Indians.…the bear tribe...Kincolith of Nass 1897”.

Created in the 19th century by a Tsimshian artist, this finely carved ceremonial club would have been the cherished property of a high-ranking chief. As the head of one of the four matrilineal clans, consisting of the Killer Whale, the Eagle, the Wolf, and the Raven clans, the chief presided over both secular and religious functions, as well as elaborate masked dances during the winter ceremonies.The highest-ranking Tsimshian chiefs were eligible to become exclusive members of a secret society known as ludzista, or the Destroyer cult. New initiates would undergo a ritual of possession by the protector spirit of the cult, and while possessed, they wielded these small, specialized wooden clubs adorned with the chief’s crest animal, to ritually destroy delicate cedar boxes and other sacred items. These ceremonial clubs would continue to serve the chief as emblems of tribal rank and secret society membership.

The ceremonial club presented here is skillfully carved from dense hardwood, likely from the Pacific Yew tree, and is surmounted by a classically rendered crouching wolf. The club displays a well-worn glossy patina, and the striking surface of the club, centered at the back of the head, bears the markings and indentations consistent with the frenzied rituals of the Destroyer cult.   Each of the four Tsimshian clans were associated with two primary animal crests. The two crests representing the Wolf clan were the wolf and the bear, a traditional pairing that helps elucidate the old inscription on the back of the figure which in part reads “Gifted by Chief of the Nisgah Indians…the bear tribe…Kincolith of Nass 1897”. Though these ceremonial clubs are exceedingly rare, an identical example can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum – catalog number 1/4192; that club having been collected by Lieutenant George Thornton Emmons at Gingolx Village, Nass River, in the 1880’s.

Art Loss Register certificate provided #S00253769

INQUIRE HERE

Nisga’a People – Gingolx (Kincolith) Village, Nass River Mouth, British Columbia

Circa 1870

Hardwood

Height: 11.25 inches (28.5 cm)

Provenance: Seattle area private collection.

Old hand inscription reads “Gifted by Chief of the Nasgah Indians.…the bear tribe...Kincolith of Nass 1897”.

Created in the 19th century by a Tsimshian artist, this finely carved ceremonial club would have been the cherished property of a high-ranking chief. As the head of one of the four matrilineal clans, consisting of the Killer Whale, the Eagle, the Wolf, and the Raven clans, the chief presided over both secular and religious functions, as well as elaborate masked dances during the winter ceremonies.The highest-ranking Tsimshian chiefs were eligible to become exclusive members of a secret society known as ludzista, or the Destroyer cult. New initiates would undergo a ritual of possession by the protector spirit of the cult, and while possessed, they wielded these small, specialized wooden clubs adorned with the chief’s crest animal, to ritually destroy delicate cedar boxes and other sacred items. These ceremonial clubs would continue to serve the chief as emblems of tribal rank and secret society membership.

The ceremonial club presented here is skillfully carved from dense hardwood, likely from the Pacific Yew tree, and is surmounted by a classically rendered crouching wolf. The club displays a well-worn glossy patina, and the striking surface of the club, centered at the back of the head, bears the markings and indentations consistent with the frenzied rituals of the Destroyer cult.   Each of the four Tsimshian clans were associated with two primary animal crests. The two crests representing the Wolf clan were the wolf and the bear, a traditional pairing that helps elucidate the old inscription on the back of the figure which in part reads “Gifted by Chief of the Nisgah Indians…the bear tribe…Kincolith of Nass 1897”. Though these ceremonial clubs are exceedingly rare, an identical example can be found in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum – catalog number 1/4192; that club having been collected by Lieutenant George Thornton Emmons at Gingolx Village, Nass River, in the 1880’s.

Art Loss Register certificate provided #S00253769

INQUIRE HERE