Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

Amulet

ca. 1840–70
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 746
The peoples of the Pacific Northwest share a shamanistic worldview. Shamans employ techniques such as fasting and dancing to enter altered states of consciousness, in which they have visions that guide them in healing or advising the community. They wear protective or spiritually charged pendants, such as this example, and sometimes give them to patients as powerful medicines. Here, we see two animal forms that may have been ancestral emblems of a particular shaman: a graceful diving whale and a raptor with outstretched wings. The color-shifting nature of the abalone shell reinforces the transformational composite beings that empowered the healer and the patient.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Amulet
  • Date: ca. 1840–70
  • Geography: Made in Alaska, United States
  • Culture: Tlingit, Native American
  • Medium: Antler and abalone shell
  • Dimensions: 2 1/2 × 5 1/2 × 1/4 in. (6.4 × 14 × 0.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker, 2021
  • Object Number: 2021.434.20
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
Mask, Wood, pigment, vegetal fiber, iron nails, and feathers, Yup'ik, Native American
Mask
Yup'ik, Native American
ca. 1900
Soul catcher, Bone, abalone shell, and tanned leather, Tsimshian, Native American
On loan to The Met
Soul catcher
Tsimshian, Native American
ca. 1840–60
Headdress frontlet, Wood, abalone shell, pigment, and nails, Tsimshian , Native American
Headdress frontlet
Tsimshian , Native American
ca. 1820–40
Dance Mask, Wood, paint, feathers, Yup'ik
Dance Mask
Yup'ik
early 20th century
Blade for a Dagger (<i>Tantō</i>) with Mounting (<i>Chisagatana</i>), Steel, copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), copper-silver alloy (<i>shubuichi</i>), wood, lacquer, abalone shell, ray skin, silk, whale bone (baleen), Japanese
Blade for a Dagger (Tantō) with Mounting (Chisagatana)
Japanese
mid- to late 19th century

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.