NA-3801 A SUPERBLY CARVED BONE SHAMAN'S AMULET DEPICTING AN EAGLE'S HEAD CIRCA MID-19TH CENTURY.

Northern Northwest Coast, Tlingit or Haida, Alaska or Northern British Columbia.

Carved bone.

Length: 4.5 inches (11.4 cm.)

Provenance: Formerly in the Berthusen Collection of Northwest Coast Art, deaccessioned from the Lynden, Pioneer Museum, Lynden, Washington.

Price: $5,500.

Strikingly carved on both sides in the form and image of an eagle's (or raven's) head, with double U-forms representing feathers behind deeply carved eye socket form lines, this amulet exhibits the glossy patina of native usage. It is pierced at back end for attachment or suspension. Shamans used this type of amulet for curative or healing actions, and they were usually suspended from a shaman's apron or attached to the regalia of the user

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