Lot 113
MERVYN CHILD HUNT (1955-) KWAKWA̱KA̱ʼWAKW
Kwagu'ł Sisiuł, 2002
cedar, cedar bark, acrylic paint and copper, 19.25 x 73.25 x 9.5 in (48.9 x 186.1 x 24.1 cm)
titled, signed, and dated, "KWAGUʼŁ / SISI'UŁ / Mervyn Child / 2002".

Provenance
Gallery Indigena, Stratford, Ontario;
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, 16 April 2004, accompanied by a copy of the receipt.

Mervyn Childs continues to live in his home village of T’sakis / Fort Rupert and to work in the Copper Maker Studio and gallery created by his uncle, Calvin Hunt. He is an active cultural performer, teacher, and artist.

The Sisuitl was often depicted in large panels installed in ceremonial longhouses. This supernatural creature had two heads with a central human form, with supernatural horns flanked by human hands, representing the possession of the supernatural power held by the Sisuitl. The Sisuitl is often associated with power crossing from the natural to the human world, with the ability to protect and heal, and it is therefore associated with shamanic rituals.

Gary Wyatt

References: For a Sisiutl mask by Charlie James see Peter L. Macnair, Alan L. Hoover, & Kevin Neary, The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art, (Vancouver: Douglas & MacIntyre: Vancouver, 1984), p. 72. See also Audrey Hawthorn, Kwakiutl Art, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1988), pp. 125-126.