Robert Ridley was born in the village of Masset on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. He was a prolific maker of wood and argillite model poles, model canoes, house models, and feast spoons. Ridley completed at least two large-scale poles, one for Thunderbird Park in Victoria and the other for the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. This pole reflects Ridley’s skill at capturing and expressing monumentality in a miniature scale. The pole features an eagle, bear, and bear holding a human at the bottom, with the verso hollowed out and the formline from the eagle’s wings wrapping around the back. It is painted in Ridley’s classic palette of burgundy, black, and green, exemplifying his reserved, but impactful, approach to Haida art.

Christopher W. Smith