Tlingit warrior helmet sells at auction for nearly $2.2 million
Published Monday, June 2, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU -- A private collector recently purchased a rare Tlingit warrior's helmet for more than $2 million at an East Coast auction house.
The helmet sold last month in Connecticut for nearly $2.2 million to an anonymous woman, according to officials at Fairfield Auction, based in Newton, Conn.
She brought the piece to the company during an appraisal clinic several months ago, not realizing the value of the artifact, auction house owner Jack DeStories said.
"She didn't even understand it to be Native American necessarily," he said. "She didn't know; she just thought it was an interesting curiosity."
Little is known of the helmet or how it was brought to the East Coast from the traditional Tlingit homeland in the Pacific Northwest. Experts believe the helmet dates to the late 18th or early 19th century.
DeStories said the consigner of the helmet received it as a gift in 1984.
"So she had basically had it sitting on a shelf for the past 24 years," he said. "To have something come out of the clear blue sky of that magnitude was pretty much a shock for everyone in our business."
The existence of the helmet and its sale to a private collector also came as a shock to Tlingit people, said Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl.
"I was very, very, very sad that something as important and as significant as a war helmet is going into a private collection," said Worl, an anthropologist and Tlingit of eagle moiety.
"The significance of the helmet to us is it's not just an art piece, but it represents a tie to our ancestors, a tie to the spirit of our ancestors. So it's really sad to think of the possibility that it will never come home - unless of course the collector has a soul and heart and knows that the spirit of that helmet wants to come home," she said.
Steve Henrikson, a curator at the Alaska State Museum, said there are only 90 to 95 known Tlingit warrior helmets in existence. Most are in museums or private collections. He said it is remarkable for such helmet to surface after so many years.
"It's something that doesn't happen every day and it makes me feel good to know that it exists," he said. "On the other hand, I wish there was a better way to handle things like this when they are found and identified."
Items from private collections generally do not fall under the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act and returning such cultural treasures to clans or tribes can be very difficult, Henrikson said.
Community Discussion
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So nice to hear of such discoveries,
I think that the helmet should go to the family of the warrior who owned the helmet.
The helmet belonged to a warrior at one time,
He earned it through rites of passage, things not practiced as often anymore amongst warrior cultures.
The lineage of the helmet is most likely impossible to trace, therefore, the story of that helmet is lost.
Either way, there could be warriors out there who could make more and then earn them-as it was done before.
Nice article.
Wish we had a picture.
Auctions are great at figuring out the hidden value of such items. However it would be nice if the new owner would allow the Tlingit people to buy it for less money but more charitable feelings for the helmet. Of course they would still need to pay most of the $2.2 million.
If they're worth so much why don't the Tlingit make more?
its so weird to see hunting tools that we make and use everyday in museums in anchortown and fairbanks. my uncle found many old masks in the 80s and gave them to the museum in anc. kinda neat to go stand in their presence. powerful.
For a couple pictures, go here:
http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/A...
Google works for me!! ;-P
Man oh man! Is that thing ever butt........ugly.
And...a helmet? It must go on top of your head, as there are no eye holes. Thanks for the pic, and the story, Yota.
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