Bowl
Unknown Artist
early 1800s
Medium
wood
Dimensions
9 × 20 × 14.6 cm
Classification
Wood
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1984.12
About this artwork
Fine wooden bowls were often used during feasts in the Northeastern Woodlands. The heads on the rims may represent spirit beings, perhaps the owner’s guardian spirits, acquired through dreams or visions—thought to be the ultimate sources of truth. The medium may also be profoundly meaningful. A Great Lakes (Meskwaki) Native said in 1911, “The murmur of the trees when the wind passes through is but the voices of our grandparents. Often a whole forest hums with talk . . . we often hear the sound o...