As mentioned in the preceding lot, Glen Rabena is a non-Indigenous artist who was adopted into the Eagle Clan by Haida artist and Chief Claude Davidson in 1987, following several years of collaboration with Claude’s sons, Robert and Reg Davidson.[1] Prior to his time with the Davidsons, Rabena studied at the Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Art at ‘Ksan in the 1970s. He is perhaps best known for his series of formline bird prints, as well as for his finely carved alder masks featuring cherubic faces and precise formline designs.

This elegant bowl features a heron at rest with its head turned, preening its feathers. The bowl is painted with the primary formline in red and the secondary forms in black, alluding to Rabena’s time working with Haida artists. The underside of the bowl features a relief carved human face along with wings and feathers. The rim of the dish is inlaid with abalone shells. This dish is similar to late-19th century Northwest Coast dishes featuring herons and other shorebirds, which were in turn influenced by Victorian and Asian dishes of that same era.

1. Glen Rabena biography. https://www.glenrabena.com/gallery/bio/. Accessed 25 April 2025.

—Christopher W. Smith