Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Ontario

Note:

Lack of money was a chronic condition for Emily Carr. Gerta Moray writes that “the comforts of material affluence” were never something that the artist enjoyed, explaining that beginning in 1924, “in her search for ways to eke out a living, Carr turned to craft production, taking up rug making and pottery as media through which her interest in native imagery could find a market.” Carr signed her pottery “Klee Wyck” which meant Laughing One, a nickname bestowed upon her by the First Nations people of Ucluelet.
Carr writes about her experience as a potter extensively in her autobiography Growing Pains. She herself foraged for the clay, loading it into a pram to take home. There she would build up her objects by hand, losing many during the firings. She describes every moment of the firing as “agony, suspense and sweat.” Carr recalled “The small kiln room grew stifling. My bones shook, anticipating a visit from police, fire chief, or insurance man. The roof caught fire. The floor caught fire. I kept the hose attached to the garden tap and the roof of the kiln shed soaked.” Carr aimed to produce pottery in quantity, as the venture was a commercial one. However, given how difficult it was for her to make them and how few survived the firings, it is not surprising that so few of these objects remain available to present day collectors.

The dogfish is a small variety of shark that inhabits the waters of Haida Gwaii. “Dogfish Woman” is a crest belonging to many of the Haida clans, and is related to a story of a female ancestor who could transform herself into a dogfish. This serves as a fitting design for pottery, a craft which requires so much earth and water to create.

Literature:
Emily Carr, The Complete Writings of Emily Carr, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver/Toronto, 1993, page 439.
Gerta Moray, Unsettling Encounters: First Nations Imagery in the Art of Emily Carr, UBC Press, Vancouver/Toronto, 2006, pages 277-280.