Totem pole

Museum number:
2-10723
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21020010723
Accession number:
Acc.407
Description:
Made of cedar painted red, black, white and blue. Meaning of carvings (top to bottom): 1) Three watchers (with dancing hats indicative of rank); 2) Toothed eagle, wife's crest; 3) Frog, wife's crest; 4) Mountain spirit/demon (ornamental filling); 5) Grizzly bear, owner's chief crest. Associated drawings and miniature mockup are associated with this number as well.
Donor:
Phoebe Apperson Hearst
Collection place:
Skedans, Moresby Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Verbatim coll. place:
Canada; British Columbia; Queen Charlotte Islands; Skedans
Culture or time period:
Haida
Collector:
C. F. Newcombe
Collection date:
1910
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works), Miniature (size attribute), Sculpture (visual works), and Totem poles
Production date:
1870
Accession date:
1911
Context of use:
Coat of arms showing descent from K'ona (Skedans), Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. Remarks by Charles Brown, 12 June 1964: "This is a Grizzly bear pole. Head with Raven coming out of mouth refers to a story of a man who told a lie for gain. Putting the leg or foot of upper figure in ears of major heads is a Haida idea. Man at bottom in bear's grasp is a deceased relative; hat indicates social status. Bird at top of pole is a Raven.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
width 41 inches, 39 feet, width 31.5 inches, height 25 inches, and height 22.25 inches
Comment:
Erected about 1870 on payment of 100 blankets to the head chief, by Haostis of the Raven Division of the Tribe, for himself and his wife K''awa, of the Eagle division. Photo: 15-20020; 15-21815; 15-21817 a-c. Published: "Art of the Northwest Coast" (R.H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology exhibit), Spring, March 26 - October 17, 1965, p. 91 (detail). "Treasures of the Lowie Museum" (1968 exhibit catalogue), p. 17. "The American West", vol. VIII, No. 3, May 1971, p. 18. "Totem Poles", Marius Barbeau, National Museum of Canada Bull. 119, v. 1; Anthropological Series no. 30, Ottowa, 1950, page 223. "Those Born at Koona", John and Carolyn Smyly, Vancouver, 1993. Pole 26A, p. 113. Exhibited: Installed in Kroeber Hall north patio 1959; October 23, 1974 removed and stored at Richmond Oil House facility. When installed in patio 60 inches from lights to pole; 45 inches floor to base of pole.
Images:
Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-10723, described as Made of cedar painted red, black, white and blue. Meaning of carvings (top to bottom): 1) Three watchers (with dancing hats indicative of rank); 2) Toothed eagle, wife's crest; 3) Frog, wife's crest; 4) Mountain spirit/demon (ornamental filling); 5) Grizzly bear, owner's chief crest. Associated drawings and miniature mockup are associated with this number as well.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-10723, described as Made of cedar painted red, black, white and blue. Meaning of carvings (top to bottom): 1) Three watchers (with dancing hats indicative of rank); 2) Toothed eagle, wife's crest; 3) Frog, wife's crest; 4) Mountain spirit/demon (ornamental filling); 5) Grizzly bear, owner's chief crest. Associated drawings and miniature mockup are associated with this number as well.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-10723, described as Made of cedar painted red, black, white and blue. Meaning of carvings (top to bottom): 1) Three watchers (with dancing hats indicative of rank); 2) Toothed eagle, wife's crest; 3) Frog, wife's crest; 4) Mountain spirit/demon (ornamental filling); 5) Grizzly bear, owner's chief crest. Associated drawings and miniature mockup are associated with this number as well.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-10723, described as Made of cedar painted red, black, white and blue. Meaning of carvings (top to bottom): 1) Three watchers (with dancing hats indicative of rank); 2) Toothed eagle, wife's crest; 3) Frog, wife's crest; 4) Mountain spirit/demon (ornamental filling); 5) Grizzly bear, owner's chief crest. Associated drawings and miniature mockup are associated with this number as well.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-10723, described as Made of cedar painted red, black, white and blue. Meaning of carvings (top to bottom): 1) Three watchers (with dancing hats indicative of rank); 2) Toothed eagle, wife's crest; 3) Frog, wife's crest; 4) Mountain spirit/demon (ornamental filling); 5) Grizzly bear, owner's chief crest. Associated drawings and miniature mockup are associated with this number as well.

Tools