William Ukas was a Wrangell, Alaska, based Tlingit master carver who created some of the most iconic monumental totem poles in Southeastern Alaska, including the Chief Shakes Raven Pole and the Kiks.ádi Pole, among others. [1] Both of these monumental poles have been copied by hundreds of artists up and down the Northwest Coast for over a century. This masterfully carved model Kiks.ádi Totem by Ukas is unique for being by the maker of the full-sized pole and for displaying a sophisticated proportional scaling that is rarely seen in historic models. While Ukas primarily made objects for community usage, he also made jewelry and some model houses and poles for sale. [2] As mentioned earlier, he was especially skilled at scaling to make his smaller items look like his monumental work [3], a process that many, if not most, Northwest Coast model totem carvers struggled with in this time period.

Carved in a clear hardwood, this pole features, from top: mountain, frog, raven, nestling raven, beaver, and frog emerging from beaver. The little details that set this model apart from others is the masterful execution of the relief bird design in the mountaintop and the elegant faces of the human, beaver, frogs, and ravens. This model was collected by Judge Josiah Carr Eggleston (1855-1928) on one of three visits he made to Wrangell, Alaska, sometime in the late 19th century. It appears that he and his descendants documented this history on the pole’s verso (mistake about it being Haida notwithstanding), which has passed through the same family unbroken until the present owner purchased it at auction.

1. See Steve Brown, “In the Shadow of the Wrangell Master: Photo Documentation of the Work of Two Nineteenth Century Tlingit Artists,” American Indian Art Magazine, 19, no. 4 (1994): 75-85, 104.

2. See Zachary R. Jones’ 2018 dissertation "Haa Léelk'w Hás Ji.Eetí, our Grandparents' Art: A Study of Master Tlingit Artists, 1750-1989, for more details about Ukas and his work. Please especially note Figure 129 (p. 141) for a photo of Ukas in his shop with a speaker staff and models that are very similar to this pole.

3. See the Chief Kadashan model pole (23/5607) in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian for a comparable pole that also reflects Ukas’ ability to scale works. Although this pole is currently unattributed to Ukas in their records, it is most certainly carved by him. Please compare the speaker’s staff from the photo in Note 2 above with the photos of this model Kiks.ádi Pole and the model Kadashan Pole in NMAI. There is a strong affinity between the three, particularly in the human faces, raven’s wings, and pedestal-like bases.

Christopher W. Smith