Skip Navigation

Carved Soapberry Spoon with Flat Spatulate Serving End (Huklishutl)

Arts of the Americas

CULTURE Tlingit
MEDIUM Hardwood
DATES 1868–1900
DIMENSIONS 16 9/16 x 1 3/4 x 13/16 in. (42.1 x 4.4 x 2.1 cm)  (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER 05.588.7301
CREDIT LINE Museum Expedition 1905, Museum Collection Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Spoon in a soapberry form with a long, flat paddle and a carved design on one end. The handle instead of being smoot like a soapberry spoon is fully carved. It was probably used to ladle out soapberry foam not to make it. Making soapberry foam is done by putting a few tablespoons of berries with a little water into a large bowl and twirling the spoon very quickly back and forth between the hands like making a fire or whisking. As the berries foam up sugar, more water, more berries may be added until it is extremely foamy. When eaten it is normally swooshed into the mouth quickly past the tongue, bypassing any bitter or sour flavor and down the throat for a great treat.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Tlingit. Carved Soapberry Spoon with Flat Spatulate Serving End (Huklishutl), 1868–1900. Hardwood, 16 9/16 x 1 3/4 x 13/16 in. (42.1 x 4.4 x 2.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1905, Museum Collection Fund, 05.588.7301. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 05.588.7301_acetate_bw.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 05.588.7301_acetate_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.