NORTHWEST COAST First Nations Indigenous 20" Sea Otter Bowl by artist Stan Hunt, KwakiutlNorthwest Coast 20” Sea Otter Bowl with matching spoon, hand carved and painted by artist Stan C. Hunt (b. 1954) Kwakiutl (red cedar, acrylic)Dimensions: 20” l x 8.5” h x 10” wThe Kwakiutl culture of the Northwest Coast is well known for its woodworking tradition, where skilled carvers elevate ordinary objects into the level of art.Examples such as this feast bowl are often carved in the shapes of animals.Feast bowls are used by the Kwakiutl at potlatches, or gift-giving festivals. Potlatches include dances, performances, a gift exchange, and feasting. The bowls can be used to hold berries, fish or grease.Signed on the bottom by the artist.Artist: STANLEY HUNTCountry/Region: Northwest CoastTribe: Kwakwaka'wakwStanley Clifford Hunt comes from a renowned family of Kwagulth carvers from Fort Rupert, British Columbia on Vancouver Island.His grandfather, Mungo Martin is widely credited with saving Kwagiulth art from extinction by saving and documenting the culture through story, carvings, art and songs. His father, Henry Hunt, was a renowned master carver who worked at the Royal British Columbia Provincial Museum in Victoria for many years. His older brothers, Tony and Richard Hunt, are among the leading artists in the Kwagiulth form.Stan was born in Victoria on September 25th, 1954 while his father was working for the museum. Mungo Martin provided the link with tradition for the family; from his songs sung around the kitchen table to the extravagant ceremonies of the potlatch.After Stan, at the age of ten, danced as a Hamatsa for the first time, he became more involved in the rituals of his people. When Stan was younger he carved toy boats and canoes. In 1976 he went to see his father Henry in his carving shed and asked if he could be a carver. His father replied, "The first thing you have to do is make your own tools." Stan spent the next three years learning knife techniques and carving plaques for the Victoria tourist trade.He also assisted his father in the carving of six totem poles. Stan's interpretation of the Kwagiulth style is starkly traditional. No power tools or sandpaper are used. Only the traditional tools, the adze, curved knife and straight knife are used. The images are original but with traditional roots in stories of the Kwagiulth people; images passed down from one generation to the next.

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