As mentioned in Lot 108, the 1850s gold rush brought settlers — and their silver dollars — northwest. Local artists transformed those coins into engraved bracelets that increasingly featured Euro-American imagery. This bracelet presents an unfamiliar hybrid: a figure with a scaled, fish-like torso, outstretched wings, and a broadtail. Its upright head adornments are, perhaps, a stylized interpretation of a judge’s wig. The hooked nose resembles a beak and at its neck sits a prominent bow tie, deliberately carved, its meaning elusive. Is this a portrait made in honour or in jest? Could this be an example of Haida nautical imagery, echoing the masthead figures seen on ships of the time? The fun lies in this ambiguity; the pleasure is in pondering the image. One wonders, too, whether it was commissioned by a seafarer as a tribute to a superior, or whether the artist was drawing inspiration on the language of political cartoons.