# Feast Ladle

- Date: late 1800s–early 1900s
- Medium: horn, bone, copper, abalone shell inlay
- Classification: Miscellaneous
- Dimensions: Overall: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.)
- Culture: Native North America, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Tlingit
- Credit line: The Harold T. Clark Educational Extension Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.386)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1953.386/1953.386_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Elaborate utensils, valuable possessions of Northwest Coast noble clans, were used during potlatch feasts. An imposing eagle hovers, patron-like, over this ladle’s bowl and the bounty it once served; a bear’s head appears on the underside of the bowl. Both may be crests, motifs that, like European heraldry, were exclusive to important families and referred to their histories and rights to control land and resources.