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Exhibition History"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010.
ProvenanceTaquan village, Port Chester, Alaska, ca. 1820-1840; Ballard Elks Club, Seattle, Washington, from 1920; Howard Roloff, Victoria, British Columbia, 1996; George Shaw Gallery, Aspen, Colorado
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.378-379.
Miller, Angels L., Janet C. Berlo, Bryan J. Wolf and Jennifer L. Roberts. American Art, History, and Culture Identity Encounters. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, pg. 233, fig. 7.23.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 422.
Culture
Tlingit (Tongass)
House Posts
Date1820-1840
MediumRed cedar, paint
DimensionsOverall (A): 105 × 38 × 12 3/4 in. (266.7 × 96.5 × 32.4 cm)
Overall (B): 104 × 38 × 11 in. (264.2 × 96.5 × 27.9 cm)
Object numberT0307a-b
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThe Tlingit often carved house posts that were made to stand before and fasten to a plain interior post which actually supported the weight of the roof structure of large clan houses. This would better preserve the posts, but more important, it allowed them to be moved easily from one house to another. The carvings usually represent the crest emblems of a particular clan, in this case the Raven clan. The image of the Raven carrying the sun in his beak is one of the oldest in Tlingit mythology. It recalls the stealing of daylight from a giant or other powerful being and its eventual release to man-kind. Here the Raven is depicted in flight, carrying in his beak a mask-like face that symbolizes the sun. The style of work in each of these posts indicates that they were carved by two different artists. Taken together the two images contain a level of design evolution which implies that they were created in the first half of the 19th century. The two styles differ significantly, however. The work on the post with a larger tail face is more sculptural in its carving and suggests an older, somewhat more conservative artist. The other post has more detailed, but flatter carving which suggest the work of an artist more influenced by the design evolution of the early classic post-1820 period.Exhibition History"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010.
ProvenanceTaquan village, Port Chester, Alaska, ca. 1820-1840; Ballard Elks Club, Seattle, Washington, from 1920; Howard Roloff, Victoria, British Columbia, 1996; George Shaw Gallery, Aspen, Colorado
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.378-379.
Miller, Angels L., Janet C. Berlo, Bryan J. Wolf and Jennifer L. Roberts. American Art, History, and Culture Identity Encounters. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, pg. 233, fig. 7.23.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 422.
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