A flat, narrow rim borders the shallow depression in the center of this small oval plate or platter. The head, wings, feet and tail of a raven are composed within the border. The raven’s head is shown as if seeing it from the front and profiles at the same time, with a stack of three or more hat rings between its ears, called skils, extending to the rim. The wings are shown folded across the middle of the composition, with the bird’s taloned feet and simple tail extending from the body to the rim of the plate.

Steven C. Brown

Haida argillite carvers began making fanciful European style tableware in the 1830s, and production continued until about 1880, after which time the Haida revival period re-introduced traditional imagery to platters and plates, human figures, trade pipes, and other objects.

References: See the chapter on argillite plates and platters in Leslie Drew and Douglas Wilson, Argillite: Art of the Haida (Vancouver: Hancock House, 1980), pp. 200-209. See also the sections in Marius Barbeau, Haida Carvers in Argillite (Ottawa: National Museum of Man, 1957/1974), pp. 10-20, and pp. 32-55 (Tom Price). See also the chapter on Haida-style platters and plates in Peter L. Macnair and Alan J. Hoover, The Magic Leaves: A History of Haida Argillite Carving (Victoria: Royal BC Museum, 1984/2002), pp. 94-99.