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"Copper" (shield-like object) - prestige and wealth symbol
"Copper" (shield-like object) - prestige and wealth symbol
Object Number 54-28-10/34571
Display Title "Copper" (shield-like object) - prestige and wealth symbol
Descriptions
Object Description "Copper" (shield-like object) - prestige and wealth symbol; symbols of wealth and prestige. coppers were exchanged at potlatches. Highly standardized shape, consisting of a flared rectangle surmounted by a somewhat narrower rectangular neck. A raised ridge runs vertically through the midsection of the neck and along the line where the neck joins the flared section. The flared portion has been hammered to a convex shape, the center of which bears a faint rectangular imprint, suggestive of a design panel though no design is visible. Entire surface seems to have been painted at one time. Perforation at the end of the flared section may have been for hanging.
Inventory Description Metal, miscellaneous, sheet, copper object, rectangular, flared end, perforated,
Classification
  • Sheet
Department Ethnographic
Culture
  • Tlingit
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
North America / United States / Alaska
Additional Geographic Terms Alaska, Southeast
Materials Copper, Paint
Dimensions Overall: 75.5 x 47.5 x 1.5 cm (29 3/4 x 18 11/16 x 9/16 in.)
Quantity 1
Label on object 54-28-10/34571
Provenance
Collector Denver Art Museum (?)
Donor Denver Art Museum (June 15, 1954)

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