Created in 2011, this Undersea World Chief’s Rattle reflects the inheritance of an extraordinary Haida artistic lineage. Isabel Rorick is the daughter of Primrose Adams and the granddaughter of Florence Davidson. She is also the great-granddaughter of Isabella Edenshaw, wife of the renowned carver Charles Edenshaw. On her father’s side, basketry knowledge came to her through her aunt, Delores Churchill, and her grandmother, Selina Peratrovich.

Formed in spruce root in a plain twining style, the present rattle gives Isabel Rorick a surface both supple and exacting. Along its side, Skaana, the killer whale, appears in wheat grass applied in false embroidery, the image moving with measured grace across the curved body of the form. This is where the design becomes especially compelling, for it is carried not on a flat plane but around the swell of the rattle itself, so that it shifts before the eye as the work is handled.

At the top, carnelian stones and down provide a note of softness and light. Below, carnelian and abalone shell gather at the base around a handle carved from yew wood. The passage from one material to the next is deftly managed, producing a surface alive with contrast in texture and sheen, while the form remains cohesive throughout.

First Arts extends our gratitude to Sarah Raven for her assistance in cataloging this lot.