CHARLIE JAMES (YAKUGLAS) (1867-1937 or 1938), KWAKWA̱KA̱ʼWAKW

Model Totem Pole,1920s

polychromed wood, 25 x 11.75 x 4.75 in (63.5 x 29.8 x 12.1 cm)

signed, "CHARLIE / JAMES".

Provenance

Private Collection, Seattle;

A Vancouver Collection.

Model totem poles became a staple among Northwest Coast artists in the second half of the nineteenth century, growing in popularity as visitation to the coast increased in the latter decades and into the twentieth century, where the practice continued to flourish. Model totems had no function or presence in traditional culture, but among visitors to the region they became the perfect iconographic symbol of Native cultures in which full-sized totem poles were a most fascinating feature. As Northwest Coast ceremonial culture was increasingly discouraged by outside colonial influences, model totem poles and other portable artforms were looked upon as benevolent symbols of the past, and artists took up this new pursuit to fill a creative void. One of the most prolific artists of the late 19th/ early 20th centuries was known in English as Charlie James. His mother was a Fort Rupert Kwakwaka'wakw, and her son carved a great number of masks, boxes and chests, full-sized totem poles and grave figures for traditional ceremonial leaders, many of which have made their way into museums, art galleries and private collections where they reside today. James’ model totems can be found in nearly every collection of Northwest Coast material worldwide, from the smallest examples that would fit in your hand to large examples made for bookshelves and mantels in Canadian homes.

The overlapping combination of man and whale in this substantial model pole is characteristic of his innovative style, which he boldly maintained throughout his prolific career. Whether or not he initiated the placement of a bird (eagle, kolus, raven or huxwhukw) with outstretched wings at the top of a pole, he made greater use of the device than any other Kwakwaka'wakw artist, many of whom followed his footsteps and innovations. Always willing to add wood to extend the dimensions of his totems with fins, wings, or other added features, this practice also became entrenched in Kwakwaka'wakw style as it expanded among the artists that came after him.

Steven C. BrownRobustly carved and painted in James’ classic palette, this fine example features a thunderbird; a human and diving whale; supported by a shaman with raised arms, with an octopus emerging from his mouth.Literature: For examples of comparable mid-sized wooden poles by Charlie James see Ronald W. Hawker, Yakuglas’ Legacy: The Art and Times of Charlie James (University of Toronto Press, 2016), p. 39 (UBC Museum of Anthropology Collection), p. 154 (Royal BC Museum). See also Michael D. Hall and Pat Glascock, Carvings and Commerce: Model Totem Poles 1880-2010 (Saskatoon: Mendel Art Gallery / Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press, 2011), cats. 82, 83. For a smaller but stylistically similar work see Steven C. Brown, Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Century (Seattle: Seattle Art Museum / Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998), p. 148.