Mountain goat and Dall sheep horns have long been prized by Northwest Coast Indigenous artists for their plastic-like ability to hold sharp lines and their pliability when moulded with steam. As with this spoon, goat and sheep horns would often be hafted together, with the goat horn as the handle and sheep horn as the bowl. The hardness of the goat horn handle allows for highly detailed miniature carvings of stacked figures, while the sheep horn’s size and natural shape lent itself to being carved and steamed into a bowl.

This spoon is well carved and in very good condition for its age. Horn spoons are especially prone to insect damage and the absence of any “flea bites” on this spoon and the lack of any traces of oil likely point to it being made for sale or being sold shortly after its creation and never used. The handle features, from top: a raptor or bird, a kneeling wolf, and a humanoid face that may represent an anthropomorphic wolf with tall ears. The handle is attached to the bowl with a horn peg.

—Christopher W. Smith