This delightful woven inkwell, made by an unidentified Nuu-chah-nulth artist in the 1930s, transforms an ordinary glass bottle into something vivid, witty, and highly accomplished. The bottle, still fitted with its cork stopper, has been tightly covered in wrapped twining using natural and dyed grasses.

The dark purple-brown body provides a handsome ground for two pale deer, while flowering plants in red, green, and natural grasses rise between them. The base is left undyed, and a single contrasting band circles the upper rim. Nothing is accidental. Each change of colour sharpens the design and gives the little object its tremendous visual life.

Nuu-chah-nulth weavers were remarkably inventive in adapting their basketry to the new forms introduced through trade. Bottles, teacups, hats, and other Euro-American objects became opportunities for technical display and playful reinvention. Here, the humble inkwell has been thoroughly claimed by the weaver, its hard glass body hidden beneath a skin of colour, pattern, and exceptional workmanship.