Israel Shotridge
Taantakwan (Tongass Tlingit), (20th/21st century), a model variant of the Chief Johnson totem pole standing in Ketchikan, Alaska, apparently unsigned.
height 40 1/2in, greatest width 13 3/4in
Footnotes:
Provenance
Commissioned by the present owner from the artist in the late 1990s

The original Chief Johnson totem pole, also referred to as the Kadjuk Pole, was raised in 1901 by Chief George Johnson (d.1938) or Gut Wain, chief of the Gaanaxadi clan of the Tongass tribe, as a memorial to honor the passing of his mother. The principal narrative depicted is the story of Fog Woman, who as the wife of Raven created the first salmon. The full-scale totem continues with a lengthy undecorated column topped by a mythological kadjuk bird, a house crest of Chief Johnson's clan. In 1981 the original pole was removed and placed in storage; Israel Shotridge was commissioned to replicate the full-size pole and completed the work in 1989. The present lot recreates the bottom portion of the Kadjuk Pole, and was used to illustrate the cover of Totem Poles to color & cut out: Vol.2 Tlingit, 1999, Bellerophon Books, Santa Barbara, CA, with text by Steven Brown. A copy of the publication accompanies the lot.