This is a captivating and haunting carving.

Hewn from maple, the clamshell shaped bowl is exceedingly thin and the effigy is meticulously rendered. The features of the face are subtly and sensitively carved.

This ladle relates to a group of Wyandot human effigy ladles, one being in the collection of The National Museum of the American Indian and pictured in Indian Art In North America, Dockstader, pl. 237. The character and features of the face of that example are remarkably similar to this piece.