The original Eagle formline design on this vest by Haida artist Bill Reid recalls his iconic silkscreen print series of the 1970s. As mentioned in Lot 24, Reid was a huge figure in the Northwest Coast art world in the second half of the 20th century. Reid, along with his friend and sometime collaborator Bill Holm (see Lot 34), was largely responsible for the revitalization of Northern Northwest Coast two-dimensional design conventions. This Eagle design is classic Reid, an elegant assemblage of forms, sensitively rendered in red and black. Here, Reid’s ovoids and formlines swell and then rapidly contract into impossibly thin fine lines, maximizing the contrast and drama of the composition. Although Reid did produce a series of vests with printed designs for the paddlers of the Loo Taas canoe, hand painted vests such as this one are extremely rare. That said, we do know that Reid made at least one other similar vest, with a Dogfish design, for his wife Martine in 1978. [1] That vest is in the Bill and Martine Reid Founding Collection of the Bill Reid Gallery.

We extend our thanks to the Bill Reid Gallery for assisting in the cataloguing of this item.

1. See Parent Catalog Number 2002.1 in the collection of the Bill Reid Gallery for more information. https://billreidgallery.pastperfectonline.com/archive/598ACBEF-F86D-4A53-93C2-203229234116. Accessed 31 March 2026.

CWS