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FROM CARD: "COMMENTS BY SPECIALISTS IN THE FIELD OF NORTHWEST COAST ART, JAN. 13, 1970: 'MY GUESS WOULD STILL BE PORT SIMPSON, WITH THE IDENTITY OF THE ARTIST MAYBE HAIDA.' - WILSON DUFF, UNIV. OF B.C.. SEE: FORREST, ROBERT D.; FALL 1982, 'REDISCOVERING A MASTERPIECE', HERITAGE WEST; 6:15-20. SEE NEG. #84-13566, RECENT NEG. MADE OF OLD PHOTOGRAPH, WHICH SHOWS EXHIBITS AT S.I. BUILDING (CASTLE), INCLUDING THIS HOUSE FRONT. SEE FIG. 5, P. 230 OF GEORGE F. MACDONALD, 'COSMIC EQUATIONS IN NORTHWEST COAST INDIAN ART,' IN THE WORLD IS AS SHARP AS A KNIFE; BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, VICTORIA; 1981. OBJECT IS DESCRIBED THERE AS TSIMSHIAN HOUSEFRONT DEPICTING NAQUANAKS, THE TSIMSHIAN 'CHIEF OF THE SEAS' FLANKED BY TWO WHALES, IN A CLASSIC POSE OF 'CHIEF OF THE ANIMALS.' ILLUS.: HANDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 7, NORTHWEST COAST, FIG. 6, PG. 273." "LOANED TO ARCO CENTER FOR VISUAL ART 10-18-1983, RETURNED 1-11-1984."SEE PROCESSING LAB ACCESSION FILE FOR INFORMATION ON CHILKAT BLANKET, #VII-A-132 IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION, WHICH MAY RELATE TO THIS HOUSEFRONT.Neg. #MNH2241 is black and white composite view of entire house front. Neg. #83-11069 is a color slide view of almost the entire house front (tail fins of whales are cut off). Neg. #83-11067 is a color slide view of the entire left side and center with door (opening). Neg. #83-11068 is a color slide view similar to 83-11069, except about half of each whale is cut off. Color digital neg. #s NHB2016-00217 to NHB2016-00238 = photos of front of panels; Color digital neg. #s NHB2016-00239 to NHB2016-00260 = photos of back of panels. Color digital neg. # NHB2016-00415 is composite image of front of house front. Color digital neg. # NHB2016-00418 is composite image of back of house front. Color digital neg. # NHB2016-00413 is a composite image of front of left side of house front. Color digital neg. # NHB2016-00416 is composite image of back of left side of house front. Color digital neg. # NHB2016-00414 is composite image of front of right side of house front. Color digital neg. # NHB2016-00417 is composite image of back of right side of house front. This object is illustrated in Figures 5.1 - 5.4, pp. 168-169, and Plate 10, p. 235, of Malin, Edward; 1999; Northwest coast Indian painting house fronts and interior screens; Portland, Ore: Timber Press. Object is described and discussed on pp. 42-43 of same publication. Note that this object appears to be described in the accession papers for accession 4730 and for accession 5260.Illus. Fig. 9, p. 57 in Brown, Steven C., 2005, "A Tale of Two Carvers: The Rain Wall Screen of the Whale House, Klukwan, Alaska," American Indian Art Magazine, 30(4): 48-59. Identified on p. 57: "... the house [front] painting is said to represent the story of Nagunak, an emblem of the Tsimshian Gisbutwaada clan (McLennan and Duffek 2000:119)." Full citation for McLennan and Duffek 2000: McLennan, Bill, and Karen Duffek. 2000. The transforming image: painted arts of Northwest Coast First Nations. Vancouver/Toronto: UBC Press.P. 69 of Smithsonian Annual Report for 1875 lists some of the artifacts that James Swan has collected for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876. Among them is noted "... materials for a complete dwelling, 100 feet long by 20 wide ...", which may be a reference to this house front?A photo of the house front outside the building at 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia is in the Free Library of Philadelphia collections and is available online: Centennial Photographic Co.. Indian curiosities from Puget Sound [sic]. Stereoviews. Free Library of Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA. https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/1949. (accessed Feb 25, 2018). A photo of this house front on display at the Smithsonian circa 1879 (photo may actually date more specifically to 1882 - early 1885) is in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution Archives: Photo ID 2962 or MNH-2962, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 41, Folder: 4, https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_8263 .House front on display at National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Objects of Wonder", 2017 - 2025. Exhibit label text follows: In Tsimshian culture, painted house fronts tell the family history of the clans who live inside. This 38-foot-long (11.6 m) house front from the Tsimshian village of Lax Kw'alaams in British Columbia depicts the story of Nagunaks, a powerful undersea spirit chief who gave his crest - the design on this house front - and other gifts to the Killer Whale clan. Members of Tsimshian clans trace their heritage through the mother's line back to a common ancestor, and they have exclusive rights to the heraldic crest representing their clan. The short doorway forced visitors to bow low when entering, which also made it easier to defend against enemies trying to come in. The story depicted on the house front: Nagunaks When four fishermen dropped their anchor onto Nagunaks' underwater house and harmed a fish, the sea chief had the men brought to him. After a year as his guests, Nagunaks sent them home with gifts - including his own crest - in exchange for a promise not to hurt any more sea creatures. Killer whales Killer whales, also called blackfish, are Nagunaks' servants, and the symbols of the clan three of the fishermen belonged to. These killer whales are recognizable by their tail flukes, toothed mouths, and dorsal fins. Undersea chiefs Nagunaks invited other supernatural chiefs to a potlatch, or gift-giving feast, at his house, where he introduced them to his fishermen guests. The figures along the top represent these underwater beings - notice their dorsal fins. Bullhead fish Years after the original fishermen returned from their stay with Nagunaks, some younger fishermen clubbed a bullhead fish and cut its mouth, and were pulled into the sea as punishment. The figure on the killer whale's nose may represent the bullhead with its elongated mouth. Human figures The human forms in the whales' blowholes probably represent fishermen being pulled down to Nagunaks' realm. This painting may depict their original capture, or the end of the story when the fishermen were punished for harming sea creatures.