Captain Andrew Brown was a prolific carver of argillite and wood from the village of Yan, on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. Primarily known for his argillite, Brown developed a unique and easily identifiable style that prioritized storytelling over formalism. Unlike many of his fellow argillite carving contemporaries, Brown eschewed bilateral symmetry in favour of dramatic scenes with figures shown in mid-transformation, stretching their arms, wings, and heads beyond the usual, cylindrical shape of a pole. Brown was also a friend and informant of Marius Barbeau (1883-1969), the Canadian anthropologist and folklorist, who promoted Brown and his work in his numerous publications on Haida art. [1]

This diminutive pole features, from top: Raven in bird form, what looks like a transverse Fish (?) carved in low relief, an anthropomorphic Frog, and what Barbeau identified as “Raven after he lost his beak.” [2] Like many of Brown’s carvings, the imagery of this pole probably references a specific story. It’s also likely that this is a later carving by Brown, as evidenced by the very open crosshatching and looseness of the overall carving.

1. Marius Barbeau, Haida Carvers in Argillite, (Ottawa: Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources / National Museum of Canada, 1957; repr. 1974), p. 203.

2. Ibid.

Christopher W. Smith