HISTORICAL AUTHENTIC MUSEUM PIECE EARLY 1900'S TLINGIT / HAIDA INDIAN CARVED CEDAR SEAL TOTEM BOWL. FROM THE LATE 19TH CENTURY TO THE EARLY 1900'S THIS TRUE "TLINGIT OR HAIDA INDIAN" HAND CARVED UNPAINTED "CEDARWOOD SEAL TOTEM BOWL" MEASURES 9 INCHES LONG 3 INCHES HIGH AND IS 3 INCHES WIDE. IT IS MARKED ON THE BOTTOM WITH A BLACK INK STAMP, "W. ALASKA" WHICH WAS SIMILAR TO THE STAMPS PUT ON "AUTHENTIC NW COASTAL INDIAN ART" DURING THE EARLY PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY BY THE FAMOUS "SEATTLE YE OLDE CURIOSITY SHOP"AND WAS FOUND IN THE HEART OF SEATTLE.  BEAUTIFUL AND ORIGINAL WITH PLENTY OF UNTOUCHED AGE PATINA, AND OBVIOUS REAL "USE" WEAR YOU CAN SEE IN ALL THE PICTURES.  WILL BE STARTING THIS AUCTION OFF WITH AN EXTREMELY LOW STARTING BID WITH NO RESERVE FOR YOUR BIDDING PLEASURE! INFORMATION BELOW TO READ ALSO:

Did the Seattle based Curiosity Shop ever ink stamp the words, W. ALASKA" on their indian art they sold around the early 1900's?
Yes, historical records and antique dealer archives indicate that Seattle-based curio shops from that era utilized similar descriptive ink stamps on Indigenous goods.  It was common to find items stamped with "W. ALASKA" or "W. ALASKAN IND" to identify the tribal or geographic origin (such as "Western Alaska" or "Western Alaskan Indian").
During the early 1900s, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (originally founded by J.E. "Daddy" Standley as the "Curiosity Shop and Indian Curio") regularly stamped or tagged items. They applied ink stamps directly to the backs, bottoms, or rims of items like Tlingit and Haida baskets, cedar boxes, and ivory carvings to designate their geographic origin for tourists and museum collectors. 
  • Wording Variations: Stamps from this period typically read "WESTERN ALASKA", "W. ALASKA", or paired the region with a broad designation like "ALASKAN IND. ART". 
  • Ink Characteristics: The shop generally used purple or black indelible ink, which often bled slightly into porous materials like cedar wood or grass basket weaves over the decades.
  • Combined Markings: These geographic stamps were frequently accompanied by a separate ink stamp or a paper tag explicitly reading "Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Seattle, Wash.
  • PLEASE READ MY "CONDITION REPORT" AND LOOK OVER ALL MY PICTURES BEFORE DOING ANY BIDDING.
     
      PLEASE DO NOT BID ON MY AUCTIONS IF YOU ARE NOT INTENDING TO PAY FOR YOUR HIGH BID AMOUNT!  THANK YOU AND ENJOY THE AUCTION!