Nuu-Chah-Nulth or Coast Salish Totem

A large pair of model poles that depict the Tlingit Chief Shakes Raven pole of Wrangell, Alaska. The poles tell the story of how Raven stole the sun, moon, and stars from his grandfather and feature, from top, Grandfather Raven wearing a woven hat, the box of daylight, Mother Raven and Raven as a human child, Raven, and a human with a knife. Each pole is mounted on a dense wooden base with a bark attached and is painted in black, red, yellow, and green pigments. Although the identity of this pole’s maker is no longer known, they were prolific and closely associated with the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in the first two decades of the 20th century, creating variations of this style pole in an array of sizes. See Kate Duncan’s “1001 Curious: Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and Native American Art” (2000) for a historic photo of similar pieces by this artist. In the text, Duncan explains how J.E. Standley, the founder and owner of YOCS, provided model poles by this maker to the arts and crafts company Rookwood Pottery to be reproduced as architectural features in the newly built New Washington Hotel in Seattle. Those pottery totem poles remained in the building until 2016, when they were replaced by wooden poles by Tlingit artist Odin Lonning. 29"H