Model Totem Pole

Item number A1930 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Data
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Description

Model totem pole figures portraying an eagle with upswept wings perched on a whale, embellished with a face on its tail. The black eyes are surrounded by a dark green area with black brows above and a red lined beak. The upswept wings each have five feather sections painted dark green and red outlined with black. The chest has a face that has its black eyes surrounded by a dark green area. The whale is painted black with black eyes that are surrounded by a dark green area, a red nose, and red lips, with eiqht pairs of circles along each upper side of its back. "Alert Bay" written on back of bird.

History Of Use

Model totem style carving became an important source of income for carvers starting in the last part of the 19th century. Models such as this one were carved mainly for the tourist curio trade.

Narrative

Not sold to UBC with the Darby collection in 1931; originally lent to MOA in 1949 by Edna. Perhaps collected by them between 1931 and 1949?

Iconographic Meaning

Totem poles and similar carved figures became symbolic of Northwest Coast art in western culture, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The animal imagery is derived from traditional mythological and family crest designs.