Print Item Number: 1992.10 from the MAA: University of Cambridge

Description

Silkscreen print in red and black on white background, depicting housefront design with two bird figures facing each other. The one on the left is an eagle, recognizable by the slight downward curve at the end of the beak. The right hand figure, with the straighter beak, is a raven. The raised section on the top of the eagle' s head is slightly larger. Otherwise, these two figures are identical. The centre design is a profile of a bear. From its eye hangs a tear, which contains a face design.The design of the Eagle and the Raven, the crests of the two Haida clans, was done by Jim Hart and painted on his Uncle, Claude Davidson' s house, in Masset. The Raven and the Eagle are the husband and wife of the house. The bear is a crest of the Eagle clan and was designed by Reg Davidson, Claude' s son. The bear is crying in mourning for Reg' s mother, who was killed in a boating accident. Silkscreen prints are a recent development in Northwest Coast Native art, but they incorporate traditional design techniques and subject matter. The prints are often given away at potlatches as gifts from the host to the guests. Prints are also sold commercially to non-Native buyers; Complete

Context

Claude and Sarah Davidson were friends and informants in Masset, whose house Gillian Crowther lived in while conducting fieldwork. Claude Davidson was an hereditary chief, Chief Dadens. He died in 1990; Exhibited: On display in ' New Acquisitions' , Maudslay Hall, CUMAA, from July 1990 to May 1993; Collected by: Crowther.Gillian in 1989