A fine portrait mask by Gitxsan carver Chester “Chaz” McLean, who was a student at the Kitanmaax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art (also called ‘Ksan School, for short) in Hazelton, British Columbia, in the mid-1970s. The school was a four-year program that was hugely important in the 20th century history of Northwest Coast art. In the 1970s, it boasted some of the most prestigious contemporary Northwest Coast artists as teachers, including “[Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artists] Tony Hunt and Doug Cranmer, Haida [artist] Robert Davidson, and non-Natives Bill Holm and Duane Pasco.” [1] In addition to McLean, the school produced a number of other important artists over the years, including Nisga’a artist Norman Tait (1941-2016), Haida artist Freda Diesing (1925-2002), Tlingit-Tahltan artist Dempsey Bob (b. 1948), and Nuxalk artist Alvin Mack (b. 1956).

This mask is carved in alder hardwood and is adorned with horse hair. The painted designs around the mouth display the characteristically angular formline that the ‘Ksan school was known for, which Bill Holm has described as being “based on the style that Pasco was working in at the time.” [2] There are several photos of Chester McLean from when he was a student at ‘Ksan in the George and Joanne MacDonald Northwest Coast Image Archive at Simon Fraser University. In one of the photos, McLean is shown in a button blanket and full regalia with a face paint design that is very similar to the one on this mask, raising the possibility that this mask is a self-portrait. [3]

1. Aldona Jonaitis and Aaron Glass, 2010. The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History, Seattle; Vancouver: University of Washington Press. 194.

2. Ibid.

3. George and Joanne MacDonald Northwest Coast Image Archive, “Young Man in Button Blanket,” 1972, The Bill Reid Centre Digital Image Archive at Simon Fraser University, https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/billreid-1330/young-man-button-blanket.

— Christopher W. Smith