Captain Andrew Brown was a prolific argillite carver from the village of Yan, Haida Gwaii, in the first half of the 20th century. He was also a friend and associate of Canadian anthropologist Marius Barbeau (1883-1969), who collected and wrote about Brown’s work in his ethnographic studies on Haida art. [1] Brown was known for having a looser approach to his art who, unlike his contemporaries, often created figures that were intentionally bilaterally asymmetrical. This diminutive pole is imbued with the playfulness and storytelling that Brown bestowed on many of his carvings and showcases the whimsical nature of his work. The pole features a frog that is grasping the upturned wings of the eagle below, apparently on the ride of its life. Both the frog and eagle are rendered more naturalistically than is typically seen in argillite model poles. The eagle is depicted with upraised wings and outstretched legs, with its head turned down and pointed to the left. The bottom figure is a seated anthropomorphic bear clenching its right paw into a fist and resting its left paw flat on its left knee. Both the eagle and bear feature Brown’s characteristically circular eyes, each with a single dot in the centre. The back of the pole shows the feet of the frog in low relief. The pole is mounted to a beveled argillite base.

1. Marius Barbeau. 1957. Haida Carvers in Argillite. Vol. no. 139; no. 38; Ottawa: Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources, National Museum of Canada.

Christopher W. Smith