Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 13 Seneca Questions: |
Feast Ladle
Men of the Seneca and other Woodlands nations were responsible for carving wooden ladles used at thanksgiving feasts. They carved enough ladles so that everyone at a feast would have his or her own. Other ladles were used for transferring food from large cooking containers to individual bowls.
This feast ladle from the late 19th century is shaped like a bird. In this ABSTRACT representation, the handle forms the bird's head and neck, and the spoon is the body. The only surface markings are the dots that represent the eyes and the line that shows the opening of the beak.
Among the Seneca, wooden objects
carved in the shape of birds or animals usually served a
religious function such as offering thanks at a feast. The
carver would conceive of the image in a dream or vision.
Many Woodlands peoples believed that birds had spiritual
powers because they flew to heights that humans could not
reach. They revered and honored birds by incorporating bird
images into the objects they created.
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