George Nelson is a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw master carver from Quatsino, British Columbia, best known for carving the Sea Lion House posts, now in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (A50009 d-f). He was also a prolific maker of model totem poles and cedar chests, many of which are now held in public institutions such as the Museum of Vancouver and the MOA. In addition to his work as an artist, Nelson was also a cultural informant to the anthropologist Edward Malin, who featured him in his MA thesis and one of his books, A World of Faces: Masks of the Northwest Coast (1978).

This large model pole by Nelson features, from the top: Eagle with spread wings, descending Killer Whale, Sea Lion, Bear holding Salmon, and a carved and painted Halibut base. As with many of Nelson's more complex model poles, the wings of the Eagle have been individually pegged-in to create movement and drama in the composition. It's clear that Nelson took his time on this piece. Another extraordinary aspect of this pole is its provenance, which was purported by Seahawk Auctions to have originally been commissioned by Chief Quatsino as a gift for Edward Tipping (1891-1987) in the late 1940s. Tipping was an early settler in the area and a local shopkeeper, so it's unclear what the occasion for the gift might have been. It's interesting, however, that this exchange would have taken place several years before the lifting of the Potlatch Ban in 1951.

CWS