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ITEM NUMBER: AM0904
Kwakwaka’wakw Sisiutl Mask by Master Carver Jimmy Joseph
$4,500
Description
Details
Dimensions
Kwakwaka'wakw Sisiutl mask by Master Carver Jimm Joseph. Carved and polychrome painted. 16" x 60"
Jimmy Joseph is a well-known Kwakwaka’wakw carver from Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island, in British Columbia, Canada. Joseph is a prolific maker whose work is defined by its deep carving and bright palette of red, black, blue, and green. On later pieces, he often uses white dashes and stippling to intensify his painted designs.
Joseph identifies his style as traditional and his artwork as a physical connection to his ancestors. Joseph’s work can be found in many public and private collections, including the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington in Seattle and the BC Cancer Foundation. As noted in other biographies, Joseph is a residential school survivor.
This mask is a classic rendering of the Kwakwaka’wakw Sisiutl, a supernatural being who lives in the sea. Like other images of this being, the Sisiutl is depicted as a humanoid face flanked by open hands and a pair of Sea Serpents in profile to the left and right. With horns and a extended tongue, Joseph has captured the intensity of the Sisiutl, which was sometimes painted on the sides of dugout canoes to confer protection to vessels and their crews.
This Sisiutl mask is finely detailed through careful painting and incised formlines, both hallmarks of Joseph’s best work. The use of repeating trigons on the eyebrows of the central face and serpents is also a trademark detail of Joseph’s carving and style. At 16 inches tall and 60 inches wide, the monumentality of this mask helps convey the power and presence of the Sisiutl to the viewer.
Jimmy Joseph is a well-known Kwakwaka’wakw carver from Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island, in British Columbia, Canada. Joseph is a prolific maker whose work is defined by its deep carving and bright palette of red, black, blue, and green. On later pieces, he often uses white dashes and stippling to intensify his painted designs.
Joseph identifies his style as traditional and his artwork as a physical connection to his ancestors. Joseph’s work can be found in many public and private collections, including the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington in Seattle and the BC Cancer Foundation. As noted in other biographies, Joseph is a residential school survivor.
This mask is a classic rendering of the Kwakwaka’wakw Sisiutl, a supernatural being who lives in the sea. Like other images of this being, the Sisiutl is depicted as a humanoid face flanked by open hands and a pair of Sea Serpents in profile to the left and right. With horns and a extended tongue, Joseph has captured the intensity of the Sisiutl, which was sometimes painted on the sides of dugout canoes to confer protection to vessels and their crews.
This Sisiutl mask is finely detailed through careful painting and incised formlines, both hallmarks of Joseph’s best work. The use of repeating trigons on the eyebrows of the central face and serpents is also a trademark detail of Joseph’s carving and style. At 16 inches tall and 60 inches wide, the monumentality of this mask helps convey the power and presence of the Sisiutl to the viewer.
PERIOD: 20th CenturyORIGIN: Northwest Coast - Alaskan, Native American
SIZE: 16" x 60"
