Totem pole

Reference : 5251

Spruce wood, Polychrome pigments
Dimensions: 24.1 cm x 15.2 cm x 124.5 cm
Haida population
Historical period
Circa 1850 -1880
Haida Gwai (Queen Charlotte Islands)
British Columbia, Canada

Provenance:
Private collection, Hawaii, USA
Thomaston Place Auction Galleries, Maine, USA
Collection of Dr James Tait Goodrich (1946-1920), Grandview on Hudson, New York, USA

More details

While the large totem poles were located outside, between the beach and the dwellings, with its flat bottom and small size, this one must have been placed against a wall, probably intended for display inside the ceremonial longhouses.

It is finely carved with three stacked zoomorphic figures topped by an eagle.

These figures represent ancestral guardian animals. They tell the stories of the clan’s lineage and identity.

For two similar models see The Cole Collection of Pacific Northwest Coast art, Sotheby’s London. 8.11.1977 lots 49 & 51 from the Pitt-Rivers Collection purchased in 1892.

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