This collection brings together twelve extraordinary bentwood boxes and bowls by the late Dakelh artist Larry Rosso (1944–2006), a carver whose artistry bridged traditions, territories, and generations. Born in Burns Lake, BC, Rosso learned carving from his grandfather, a canoe maker, and later studied under renowned Kwakwaka’wakw artist Doug Cranmer in the 1960s, shaping his style and grounding him in Kwakwaka’wakw design. 

In the 1970s, Rosso played a pivotal role in the Indigenous art movement and helped establish the serigraph print market, producing editions for prominent names such as Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Davidson. Yet, in 1987, carving reclaimed Rosso’s full attention. From this period onward emerged a body of work known for its technical mastery and refined aesthetic—feast bowls, wall panels, masks, and, above all, bentwood boxes.
Each of Rosso’s twelve works in this collection is a lesson in form, balance, and design. Each box is meticulously notched, steamed, bent, carved, and painted, with the exception of a Halibut Bowl carved in alder from 1977, left unpainted to showcase the warmth and grain of the wood.
The only other work in this collection that isn't bent is Rosso's outstanding, bulging, dugout Beaver Bowl, an impressive work carved completely from a single upright log of alder, knife finished and painted in ochre red and black.
This collection also includes two significant guest works: a beautifully executed bentwood canoe tackle box by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Bruce Alfred, and a finely crafted Red Corner Bentwood Box by Richard Sumner, one of Rosso’s apprentices, who was later entrusted with the profound honour of carving the box that would hold the ashes of the legendary Haida artist Bill Reid.
Together, these pieces speak to Rosso’s influence as both artist and mentor, and to the enduring power of the bentwood box as a vessel of cultural knowledge, artistic excellence, and spiritual continuity.