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Box Drum

CultureTlingit (with possible Tsimshian painting), Southeast Alaska
Dateca. 1850-1870
MediumWood (red cedar), pigment, and iron nails
DimensionsOverall: 37 1/4 × 27 1/4 × 15 inches (94.62 × 69.22 × 38.1 cm)
Credit LineFrom the Estelle and Morton Sosland Collection
Object number49.2008.8
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 206
Gallery Label
Box drums are large percussion instruments, often suspended, that produce a low, booming sound when struck with either a fisted hand or padded beater. Their broad sides were often painted with the highly conventionalized imagery distinctive of Northwest Coast cultures. This formalized system of representation, known as form-line, has ancient origins and is distinguished by a preponderance of ovoids, circles and curved contours. Principal elements of the painting are defined by heavy black outlines, which organize the component parts of the design; secondary elements are defined in red and spaces within the form-lines are filled in with ovoid and stylized "U" shapes. Most compositions are symmetrical, but not all. The painting on this drum may represent a kingfisher or possibly the more frequently depicted raven.
Published References
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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