ROBERT RIDLEY (1855-1934) HAIDA
measurements reflect dimensions without later added metal base, with: 16.25 x 3.5 x 3.5 in (41.3 x 8.9 x 8.9 cm)
with remnants of an affixed typeset label: "BY INDIA[N?] [torn] ON [torn] CH [torn-A?] RLOT [torn-TTE?] [indistinct]
ESTIMATE: $2,000 — $3,000
PRICE REALIZED: $5,358.00
Further images
Robert Ridley was born in the village of Masset on Haida Gwaii. He was a prolific maker of model totem poles, although he also created model canoes, house models, masks, and feast spoons. Ridley carved at least one full-sized pole, completed in 1925, which was posthumously raised sometime between 1941 and 1945 in Thunderbird Park in Victoria. [1]
This is likely an earlier carving by Ridley and is a bit blockier than some later pieces by him. It appears to be a house post model that features a bear grasping its extended tongue over a raven. The pole shows significant weathering and age, but retains much of its original burgundy, yellow, white, green, and black pigments. The back is deeply hollowed out and features an old, fragmented paper label that seems to have once read “By Indians on Queen Charlotte Islands,” the former colonial name of Haida Gwaii.
Christopher W. Smith
Provenance
Private Collection, New York, NY.Join Our Mailing List
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