Food Bowl: Frigate Bird with Shark Melanesian, Solomon Islands, 20th c. Wood w/ inlaid mother-of-pearl, 8 7/8 x 9 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. (22.54 x 23.5 x 71.8cm) Seattle Art Museum 65.24
"A sequence of species in a food chain is commemorated in this bowl. In a season that lasts from November to April, fishermen watch for frigate birds, who follow schools of small bait fish and are signals that a school of bonito is coming. As the bonito and bait fish stir up whirlpools of frothy activity, sharks swarm behind and devour the residue. This vessel merges two species in their cycle of consumption and that serve humans in feasts."