At only twenty-two, Don Yeomans became the youngest artist represented in the Legacy collection, an international exhibition organized by the Royal British Columbia Museum in 1980. [1] His career since has been marked by major commissions, among them the towering 10.7 metre Celebration of Flight at Vancouver International Airport, its forms rising through the atrium like wings, and a monumental pole created for Stanford University in California.

This bentwood box draws the eye with its bold surfaces, the painted forms echoing the intricate motifs of Naaxim, or Chilkat robes, the most elaborate weaving tradition of the Northwest Coast. The curves and interlocking shapes suggest fabric in motion, transformed into cedar through Yeomans’ hand. Bentwood boxes were themselves objects of great versatility, serving both humble purposes of storage and exalted roles as vessels for treasures. Painted with Naaxim designs, this box would have carried an aura of ceremony and value. It might have held family masks carved by historic masters, or been prepared as a gift of honour for a visiting chief. In great feasts, chiefs often sat upon such boxes, their surfaces gleaming, the contents hidden, the artistry and mystery together amplifying the power of the moment.

1. Peter L. Macnair, Alan L. Hoover and Kevin Neary, The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art, (Victoria: Royal BC Museum, 1980).

Gary Wyatt with First Arts