Good Luck Tsimshian Totem by Casper Mather

Good Luck totem pole with halibut base by Tsimshian carver Casper Mather. 29"H x 12" x 6"

Casper Mather (1876-1972) was an important artist who helped keep Tsimshian carving alive in Alaska during an intense period of cultural suppression and upheaval. Along with fellow carvers Eli Tait (1872-1949) and Sydney Campell (1837-1934), Mather connected the Tsimshian artists of the19th century to the artists from the second half of the 20th century who would eventually revive those artistic and cultural practices (such as the Hudson and Boxley families, among others).

Mather was born in Old Metlakatla, BC, and was eleven years old in 1887 when his family followed lay minister William Duncan to Anette Island, Alaska, where they founded the village of New Metlakatla.

Eventually relocating to Deer Mountain in Ketchikan, Alaska, Mather was a charismatic and well-liked local figure who is remembered for his wood chip covered carving workshop, his humor and storytelling, and his kind demeanor. Mather is also noted for remaining an active carver right up until he passed away at 96 years old.

This large model pole is an earlier work by Mather and depicts the “Good Luck” model totem pole, which was an iconic design for Alaskan Tsimshian artists in the first half of the 20th century.

It tells the Laxsgiik (Eagle Clan) story of The Boy Who Fed the Eagles. The pole features, from the top: An Eagle with an ovoid eye on its chest, a flipped over Salmon, a stippled Bear with raised paws, and a Human figure in a robe on the bottom, representing the Boy Who Fed the Eagles. The pole is hollowed out in the back and mounted on a Halibut-shaped base.

The robe is painted in a classic Mather style with a cube-like ovoid eye and a segmented feather design across the chest of the Human. Although more granularly detailed than many of Mather’s pieces (perhaps owing to it being an earlier example), this large model pole is a fine and desirable example of his work.