Born in Seattle but raised on Vancouver Island, Bill Kuhnley Jr. is the son of well-known model totem pole carvers Bill Kuhnley Sr. and Josie (neé Williams) Kuhnley. Through his mother, Kuhnley Jr. is related to the famous Williams family of model pole carvers who worked for the Ye Ole Curiosity Shop in Seattle. Since apprenticing with Haida master carver Robert Davidson (b. 1946) in 1994, Kuhnley has carved in a very clean and precise contemporary Haida style. Kuhnley Jr.’s work was featured in the acclaimed exhibition and accompanying publication for Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest and Southwest and in a number of shows at the Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, BC. Kuhnley Jr.’s work is also held in the permanent collection of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (16.1/2645; 16.1/2644).

The finely sculpted facial features of this Moon mask imbue it with a quiet serenity that invites the viewer to take a moment of reflection and stillness to ponder its Mona Lisa-esque smile. Carved in a tight grained red cedar, the corona of the moon frames the portrait-like face of the mask, which combined with its size and depth, has more of the impact of an architectural feature or panel. The surface of the mask has been knife finished with no sanding, a technique that Kuhnley Jr. learned from Robert Davidson that gives this mask an almost lunar glow.

—Christopher W. Smith