This Sculpin mask epitomizes the flamboyance of Kwakwaka'wakw theatrical sculpture. Jagged contours, bold, intertwined forms, and snapping, fanning, and waving appendages--all covered with contrasting and complex patterns of strong color--create creatures of startling fantasy. The subdued, wavering light of the dance house softens those contrasts amd unifies the forms. The sculpin swims to the rise and fall of its song in a sea of firelight and swirling eagle down. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)

Bentwood chest with lid (part b). Painted distributive designs on all four sides, split symmetry on long sides. Heavy black formlines with red and black details. Complex designs on front and back; one short side has wide curving black bands with red outlined ovoids, split u's and a round eye shape; cross-hatched details. Other short side has wide curving black bands, a red circle shape to right, red split u's, ovoids and crosshatched details. Two drilled holes at top of each long side. Box lashed at one corner; metal patch nailed with square nails at top. Lid is thick and carved from a single piece of wood; rounded edges.

Seven long, dark wood prongs with carved barbs which alternate at either side that are held together and all lashed to a plain shaft along the lower portion with two braided rings of bamboo grass ? and at the base of the shaft with bamboo grass ? coiling.

Two pieces of brown wood lashed together with fibre near each end. There is a face at the open hollow end with downward slanted shell eyes toward the small nose. A sideways figure-eight open mouth has perpendicular lines around the lips and two vertically curved features equally spaced within. Bilaterally symmetrical pattern of spirals with a somewhat heart-shaped open hole toward the middle of the body. Decorated with a diamond-shaped shell, a vertical oval-shaped shell, and a circular shell near toward the bottom end which has a rounded knob.

Oval birch bark basket that tapers to a square base. Basket is formed from one piece of birch bark and is stitched at both ends. Reinforced wood rim is lashed to body of basket with spruce root--small segments of spruce roots are dyed red. Sides are decorated with a scraped vegetal design of four plants, with crosshatching on one end and the base left undecorated.

Oval shaped birch bark container with tapered, almost square base; sides flare outwards. Rim reinforced with a bent twig lashed with spruce root. Stitched together at narrower sides with spruce root. Dark inner bark on the outside of the container has been scraped away in places to form a design of lighter colour. Design consists of two horizontal bands, each band consists of five scraped rows; two outer rows with triangular motif extending outwards, three inner rows straight and narrow. Note: bottom band on one side has only two inner rows. Rim has seven to eight wraps of green coloured spruce root at endpoints and two to three wraps of red coloured spruce root divided by two wraps of natural spruce root at midpoints.

Oval shaped birch bark basket at rim tapering to a square base. Decorative design covers entire exterior surface, except bottom. Design consists of a series of three horizontal repeated motifs of alternating dark brown waves and lines with light brown scraped waves and lines. The sewn side seams form an inverted "y" shape. Seams secured by spruce root stitches. Red and yellow fibre is woven through top of lashed rim--only traces remain.

Oval birch bark basket with square base. Body of basket is stitched together at the two ends with spruce root. Stitches seen on both interior and exterior. Decoration is scraped on side. Pattern consists of three stripes bordered by bands having triangles side by side pointing out. The pattern is repeated seven times around body of basket. Rim is of wood lashed to basket walls by spruce root. Four 7 cm sections of rim are decorated with red cedar bark (?) strands woven in plain checker. Between decorated sections, wood is covered with dark brown red cedar bark (?) lashed on with spruce root in "x" patterns; three sections have three "x"s each and the fourth section has four "x"s, two broken.

Oval, birch bark basket with squared bottom. Body of basket stitched together at two points with spruce root. Decoration is scraped into bark. Rim reinforced with wood and lashed to body with spruce root, and four pieces of fabric. Two pieces are blue (4 cm and 4.4 cm long) and two are red (4 cm and 4.2 cm long). Fabric is secured by crossed pieces of spruce root on each end. Beneath lashing on rim are remains of pink and purple yarn (?). There are two bands of decoration, about two cm apart, scraped into bark of body. Each band consists of three thin lines. Top lines in both bands have triangles side by side, bases about 1.2 cm - 1.5 cm apart, pointing up. Bottom lines have triangles pointing down. Centre lines have no pattern on them.