Description

Framed and glazed colour drawing of the totem pole 1901.39.1 erected in front of the chief's house in Masset, Queen Charlotte Island. The characters on the totem pole are identified in pencil. [JP 1/7/2004]

Longer Description

Framed and glazed colour drawing of the totem pole 1901.39.1 erected in front of the chief's house in Masset, Queen Charlotte Island. The characters on the totem pole are identified in pencil. The totem pole has been painted in colour, the house is only painted in grey. The painting is signed "A G Robinson. del 1901" [SM 05/03/2008]
The drawing is signed 'Alf. Robinson del. 1901' and is titled at the bottom 'The totem-pole standing before the Chief's house in Masset, Queen Charlotte Id.' Written on the back of the frame in pencil is '21.7.1 H. Balfour Esq. The Museum'. [JP 1/7/2004]

Related Collections

1901.39.1

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This painting was viewed alongside other prints and sculptures on Tuesday Sept 15, 2009. Delegates commented that the figured identified as a crayfish at the bottom of the pole is definitely not a crayfish. There are no crayfish on Haida Gwaii, and they thought the figure looked more bird like [see also 1901.39.1]. Gaahlaay (Lonnie Young) explained that the rings on the top of the pole indicate how many potlatches a chief has had and they are called skil (which is a synonym in Haida with belly button). Based on the painting, delegates suggested that the house in the painting was built after the pole was raised as evidenced by the misalignment of the pole and the door of the house in the painting and the fact that the pole is not flush against the house. [CAK 21/05/2010]

Primary Documentation

Written on object - THE TOTEM-POLE STANDING BEFORE THE CHIEF'S HOUSE IN MASSET, QUEEN CHARLOTTE ID. [SM 05/03/2008]

Written on object [on reverse] - 8 1/4 deep cut-out 295/2 [on frame] 21.7.1 H Balfour Esq The museum M T ousd[?] 20 x 17 [SM 05/03/2008]

1901.39.1 Related Documents File - [Please see computer record for 1901.39.1 for full details of the contents of this file] - This drawing is reproduced in colour in plate A. of 'Note on the Haida Totem-Post Lately Erected in the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford' by E. B. Tylor in Man, Vol. II, no. 1 (1902), pp. 1-3 (offprint plus additional copies of the plate). Also a black and white transparency of the drawing. [JP 1/7/2004]

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]