Ditidaht and Nuu-chah-nulth carvers were among the most visible and prolific makers in the early 20th century curio trade on the Northwest Coast. According to Kate Duncan, many Canadian First Nations artists “felt they were generally treated better in Seattle than in Vancouver or Victoria” and “in Seattle’s flourishing tourist trade they were also paid more for their carvings and baskets than in Canada.” [1] In particular, the relationship that formed between Joseph E. Standley (1854-1940), the founder of the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle, and the Ditidaht Williams family of Vancouver Island laid the groundwork for over a century of model pole production and innovation by Canadian First Nations artists working in the Seattle area.

This four-figure model pole features, from the top, a bear eating a seal, a diving killer whale, and a bird-like figure with an anthropomorphic face. Although unsigned, this pole is identifiable as an early carving by a member of the Williams family or one of their relatives. As a multi-figure pole, this piece is a synthesis of Northern-style form and diagnostic Ditidaht design sensibilities, especially in the stadium-shaped painted areas around the eyes, the elongated split-U forms used to create the wings on the bottom figure, and the overall painting style.

1. Kate Duncan. 2011. “Inside the Northwest Coast Curio Trade: Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and the Williams Family.” In Carvings and Commerce: Model Totem Poles 1880-2010. Edited by Michael Hall and Pat Glascock. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 23.

Christopher W. Smith