House of James Item Number: Nb7.291 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Stylized image of a house front. Gabled roof and outside supports in red-orange bands. House front design is bilaterally symmetrical. Red-orange circle at centre bottom surmounted by a frontal face with circular eyes and tapering lines. Bird-like heads at the top meet at the centre with a red-orange wide teeth row. Other primary lines in black. Large black ovoid in ovoid below bird head and to the sides with split u's and wing-like shapes below. At the outside, there is a profile image with a black circle within circle eye-shape and two split u's to the top. Three digit paw ? to the bottom. U forms and split s-shapes in red line detail below. Above the house, there is black line drawing. The line across the top is split by deep v's. Below, there is an ovoid in ovoid on the right side with a u-shape to the left. Evenly spaced diagonal lines slope inward from the ovoid and the u-shape toward the roof of the house. Pencil inscription across the bottom edge reads '52/80 14/9/76 HOUSE OF JAMES Roy Henry Vickers TSIMSHIAN TRIBE KITKATLA B.C. St. JOHN 14 12'. The print is on a horizontally rectangular, brown paper stock.

History Of Use

Northwest Coast serigraphs are a contemporary art form, deriving from early 20th century drawings of traditional crest and decorative designs, commis- sioned by anthropologists and undertaken by artists such as Charles Edenshaw. Residential schools reinforced the medium, while discouraging the use of traditional themes. An important series of traditional designs in coloured pencil and watercolour were done by Mungo Martin for UBC in 1949-50. The 1960's saw the rapid growth of prints, first in unlimited poster editions, and later with the establishment of the Gitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art at 'Ksan (1967), and of the Northwest Coast Indian Artists Guild (1977), limited edition art runs became the standard. Northwest Coast silkscreen prints are part of the mainstream art market, as well as, functioning within the native context as potlatch gifts, and commemorative prints. Although, there are distinctive regional styles, individual artists may work in several styles, or apply unique themes and variations to specific works.

Iconographic Meaning

St. John 14:12.: Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Cultural Context

contemporary art

Item History

What

Name
House of James
Identification Number
Nb7.291
Type of Item
print
Manufacturing Technique
silkscreened
Overall
height 33.0 cm, width 50.8 cm, depth 0.1 cm

Who

Culture
Tsimshian
Creator
Roy Henry Vickers (Maker)
Previous Owner
Norman Sandomirsky and Tobie Sandomirsky
Received from
Norman Sandomirsky (Donor) and Tobie Sandomirsky (Donor)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
British Columbia, Canada

When

Creation Date
on September 14, 1976
Ownership Date
before June 27, 1984
Acquisition Date
on June 27, 1984

Other

Item Classes
works on paper
Condition
good
Accession Number
0979/0005