Totem pole

Museum number:
2-15541
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21020015541
Alternate number:
11 (original number)
Accession number:
Acc.708
Description:
Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.
Donor:
W. Barclay Stephens
Collection place:
Masset, Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands
Verbatim coll. place:
Canada; British Columbia; Queen Charlotte Islands; Masset
Culture or time period:
Haida
Collector:
Willie J. Clark Dodd
Collection date:
1887-1890
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Carvings (visual works), Sculpture (visual works), and Totem poles
Function:
5.7 Objects made for sale, souvenirs, models, and reproductions
Accession date:
1936
Context of use:
Further remarks by Charles Brown: 5 potlatch rings on beaver's head indicates that pole's owner has given 5 potlatches. The upside down human figure in bear's paws represents a man who hasn't paid a debt.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 61 inches
Loans:
S1945-1946 #4: Winfield Scott Wellington (March 11, 1946–October 28, 1955), S1952-1953 #2: California Palace of the Legion of Honor (dates unknown), S1962-1963 #7: American Indian Council of the Bay Area (August 24, 1962–August 26, 1962), S1963-1964 #9: UC San Francisco Medical Center (September 3, 1963–October 11, 1963), S1966-1967 #77: Physical Education Department (UC Berkeley) (March 9, 1967–March 9, 1967), S1967-1968 #109: University of California, Berkeley (March 27, 1968–September 6, 1972), S1975-1976 #9: Palo Alto Cultural Center (November 1974–unknown), and S1983-1984 #52: Oakland Museum of California (May 9, 1984–September 7, 1984)
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 2 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 3 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 4 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 5 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 6 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 7 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Hearst Museum object 8 of 8 titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Totem pole, accession number 2-15541, described as Carved, painted. Figures top and bottom: wolf, beaver with 5 potlatch rings on head, grizzly bear holding upside-down human figure; grizzly bear: painted red-brown, green, black, blue, orange, white. Back hollowed out like old house posts. Animal figures identified by Charles Brown June 1964.

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