Bentwood Boxes
Made by the indigenous peoples of the northwest coast, bentwood boxes are unique, ingenious and versatile containers. The Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian cultures of the region have long created storage boxes from the wood of local cedar trees. These boxes are considered precious to the families that create, use, and preserve them across generations.
To build a bentwood box requires significant time and talent by master carvers with the mathematical knowledge and the skill needed to properly kerf (make a precise incision), steam and align the corners of the box. The boxes may vary in size, but are always made from three pieces of wood that fit snugly together. The kerfing, or bending, form is made by selection of a thin, tight grained plank of red or yellow cedar. The wood is divided into four sections by carving a groove halfway through at the corners. The cedar plank is steamed and then folded to form the four sides. The fourth joining corner is usually dowelled with wooden pegs or copper nails. The bottom is dowelled on and the lid is exactly carved for a snug, tight fit.
The boxes were meant to be mobile and used for storing and cooking food or holding clan items, such as regalia, blankets, ceremonial cloths, masks, and other treasures. Bentwood Boxes were also used for box burials and other types of funeral ceremonies.
While the majority of boxes were left undecorated, some were painted and elaborately carved with Northwest Coast formline designs and inlaid with precious materials such as operculum shells, abalone shell, ivory or otter teeth. Designs on the boxes may include the matrilineal family’s clan crest and complement other types of embellishments such as abalone shells or copper. Boxes that were intended to store valuable items were decorated with a crest figure, whose spirit lived within the box and guarded its contents on behalf of the owner.
Today, bentwood boxes, chests and bowls are still valued for their practical purposes and contemporary artists and carvers are recognized for their skill in creating them.
