Robert Davidson is arguably the most prominent living Canadian artist, Indigenous or otherwise, working today. A member of both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, Davidson has consistently promoted and innovated Haida art in Indigenous communities and on the world stage for the last 60 years. Born in Hydaburg, Alaska, into a historically prominent family of artists and cultural leaders, Davidson is the great-grandson of Charles (c. 1839-1920) and Isabella Edenshaw (1842-1926). In 1969, Robert and his younger brother, Reg, raised the first monumental totem pole in Masset, British Columbia, in nearly a century. Through his work with Sealaska Heritage Institute in Southeastern Alaska over the last several years, Davidson has also served as an artistic and cultural bridge between Alaskan artists and their Canadian counterparts.

Made in 1973, this engraved silver Zippo lighter is from an earlier era in Davidson’s career [1]. The Dogfish design it depicts is split between the front and back of the lighter, with the face and pectoral fins on the front and the body, dorsal, and caudal fins engraved on the back. While the face of the Dogfish is rendered in a classic Haida symmetrical frontal style, the body and fins on the verso foreshadow Davidson’s growing interest at the time in asymmetry and abstraction. This Zippo is signed “Davidson” and dated “73” under the latch on the lighter’s proper left side.

1. There is a similar Zippo from 1971 by Davidson (3260/271) in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.

CWS