Eagle Figure | Monument Item Number: 25.0/272 from the The Burke: University of Washington
Exhibit Label
Tall, completely sculptured poles were almost entirely a development of the early twentieth century. Before that time most Kwakwaka'wakw totemic monuments were either interior house posts or single figures of birds, animals, and mythical beings perched on the house gables or on tall, plain masts. This carving of an eagle is of the latter kind. The outspread wings are separate attached pieces, as is characteristic of many large Kwakwaka'wakw sculputured figures. From the character of this painting and of the sculptural form, the piece can be attributed to Arthur Shaughnessy, a prominent carver and contemporary of artists Mungo Martin and Willie Seaweed. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)
Automatically Generated From Material
The paint is black, red, green, yellow, and white.
Item History
- Made by Arthur Shaughnessy
- Received from Mrs. Anne Gerber
What
Who
- Culture
- Kwakwaka'wakw
- Creator
- Arthur Shaughnessy
- Received from
- Mrs. Anne Gerber
Where
- Holding Institution
- The Burke: University of Washington
Other
- Credit
- Sidney Gerber Collection, Gift of Anne Gerber
- Motif
- Eagle
- Collection
- Burke Museum Ethnology Collection