Larry Rosso was a Carrier/Lake Babine First Nation artist who is known for his exceptional painting and design skills, particularly on bentwood boxes and panels. Like many other 20th century Dene artists from Northwest Coast adjacent communities, Rosso gravitated toward the coastal art style and pursued his career creating formline-driven designs. Taught by luminaries such as Doug Cranmer and Robert Davidson, Rosso distilled their instruction into meticulously executed and technically perfect linework.

The distinctive tapered lines and wedge-shaped profile of this complex bentwood box identify it as a canoe box for fishermen to store tackle. The unique shape ensured that the box would fit in either end of a dugout canoe and keep the gear safe if the canoe were to capsize. The elegantly painted design depicts a frontally facing Eagle in red primary formline, with the wings and talons rendered on the sides and an anthropomorphised tail with a Human face and hands on the verso, perhaps indicating a transformation or spirit of some kind.

CWS