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Artworks
ROBERT RIDLEY (1855-1934) HAIDA
Model Hollow Back Totem Pole, c. 1900-1915cedar wood and pigment, 16 x 5 x 3.25 in (40.6 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm)
measurements reflect dimensions without later added metal base, with: 16.25 x 3.5 x 3.5 in (41.3 x 8.9 x 8.9 cm)
with remnants of an affixed typeset label: "BY INDIA[N?] [torn] ON [torn] CH [torn-A?] RLOT [torn-TTE?] [indistinct]LOT 123
ESTIMATE: $2,000 — $3,000
PRICE REALIZED: $5,358.00Further images
Robert Ridley was born in the village of Masset on Haida Gwaii. He was a prolific maker of model totem poles, although he also created model canoes, house models, masks,...Robert Ridley was born in the village of Masset on Haida Gwaii. He was a prolific maker of model totem poles, although he also created model canoes, house models, masks, and feast spoons. Ridley carved at least one full-sized pole, completed in 1925, which was posthumously raised sometime between 1941 and 1945 in Thunderbird Park in Victoria. [1]
This is likely an earlier carving by Ridley and is a bit blockier than some later pieces by him. It appears to be a house post model that features a bear grasping its extended tongue over a raven. The pole shows significant weathering and age, but retains much of its original burgundy, yellow, white, green, and black pigments. The back is deeply hollowed out and features an old, fragmented paper label that seems to have once read “By Indians on Queen Charlotte Islands,” the former colonial name of Haida Gwaii.
1. Reciprocal Research Network. Object information for MOA object A2227. https://www.rrncommunity.org/items/34747?filters=person+Robert+Ridley. Accessed April 4, 2024.Christopher W. Smith
Provenance
Private Collection, New York, NY.
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