NOTES CONCERNING NEW COLLECTIONS. LOWIE, ROBERT H. (ED) ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, 4, 1910

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

Carving of a man and dog, on a stand (part a). Male figure (part b) is carved of tusk and stands with arms stretched in front of him. He wears a parka and leggings decorated with black paint around hem, hood, and wrists. Boots and mittens are also black. Facing him is a large dog (part c), white but for its black nose, eyes, mouth and claws. Dog has a thick tail that curves to rest on his back. Both figures have two wooden pegs in their feet that connect them to holes in the stand, which is a long rectangle of smoothed brown stone.

Wooden toy-vendor tree. Tree is made of an upright central bar, in three connected pieces, with two widely spaced bars tied horizontally above midpoint on front. String connects the bars to each other in order to enhance balance. 102 toys are tied or connected by thin dowels to the horizontal bars: 12 standing birds, 14 birds on perches, 3 fish, 12 snakes, 5 crocodiles , 5 dancing couples on elastic string, 7 house boats, 10 canoes, 2 houses, 7 open boxes with either a small snake or turtle inside. Also included in this count are several mechanical toys: 10 armadillos with moveable tails and heads, 5 pairs of woodpeckers pecking a dowel, 5 pairs of people using a pounder, 5 pairs of birds pecking a box. The toys are painted in tempura, with the standing and perched birds realistically coloured, and the rest of the toys painted simply and brightly. Most of the toys have signatures or inscriptions of Spanish names, written in black paint.

Moon mother mask. A large face protrudes from the centre of a convex oval of wood, with a smaller face both above the forehead and below the chin. Central face has prominent black brows and round, black, staring pupils to either side of a carved vertical ridge. Nose has flared red nostrils, above a wide red mouth with a circular labret in an extended lower lip. The smaller faces are nearly identical but with less carved detail and no labret. The bottom face is upside down. Each has several plugs of long brown hair at top of head. The surrounding oval is painted along its edge with black, red and blue-green stripes, with evenly place inset squares of abalone shell. The back of the mask is concave with chamois ties.

Carved figure of a kingfisher. Bird sits with legs and feet at front of body, wings held close to sides. Bill is long and somewhat rounded, with a tall crest sweeping back from the forehead, painted red and black. Black eyes are small and round, while face has designs in green and beak is light grey and red. Head, back, and feathers across torso and wings are outlined in black, with legs painted black and grey. Wings have green and red decoration.

Carved figure of an owl. Bird sits on a small round base, legs and feet at front of body, wings held close to sides, with head angled slightly forward. Beak is large and hooked, under a heavy brow and large square ears atop the head. Eyes are large and round, painted black, while face and beak and are painted green with lines of red. Head, back, and feathers across torso and wings are outlined in black, with yellow bands across the legs and feet. Wings have green and red decoration.

Carved wooden yipwon (hook figure). In the shape of a standing person, with a large foot at bottom below a single leg with bent knee. A face in profile sits at centre of object, with a protruding nose and mouth and large forehead with brow that overhangs the inset shell eyes. A flower is carved onto the cheek. Surrounding the face are three oblong circles, the inner and outer of which are carved with rounded designs that are painted white and orange. The other side of the object is carved similarly but is unpainted.

Mai mask. Mask is long and narrow. The forehead rises at centre, meeting the long, sharp bridge of the nose. Eyes are made of inset cowrie shells, emphasized with black paint. On a light tan background, red-brown linear designs swirl around the eyes and cheeks and along the nose. The mouth of the mask is tubular in shape, protruding above the chin and holding a short snake with a squared head. The lower portion of the mask, as well as its outside edges and forehead, are covered in tiny white-grey shells inset in a light brown mud. Larger concave shells sit at regular intervals, and white cowrie shells line the bottom edge. Long, sparse feathers protrude from both the chin and top of head. A leather cord emerges from the top. Mask is concave on back.