Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, San Francisco, CA

Note:

The adopted son of renowned late 20th century Haida artist Bill Reid and his wife Mabel Stevens, Raymond Stevens (born Raymond Cross) was an exceptionally talented artist working in argillite and silver. His work gained significant recognition during his lifetime despite his early and tragic death at the age of 28. Raymond’s biological parents were Nisga’a and Haida. (1) At a young age he was exposed to the teachings of the important Haida artist Rufus Moody, as well as Robert Cross, and his biological brother Nelson Cross.

Stevens’ compositions are characterised by exquisite crosshatching and fine detail. Of the small body of work produced during his lifetime, several examples of his silver pieces are held in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and The Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. Artworks by Stevens were included in the celebrated 2006 Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art.

Working in a tradition of silver craft first established by Haida Chief Charles Edenshaw in the nineteenth century, here Stevens has produced a superbly composed pendant on a small scale bearing the image of the Raven of Northwest Coast mythology.

1. Iljuwas Bill Reid. n.d. Art Canada Institute - Institut de l’Art Canadien. https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/iljuwas-bill-reid/biography/.
2. Hilary Stewart, Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. (Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & MacIntyre, 1981), 68

Related Works:

Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Cat. No. 3260/277
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Cat. No. 3260/233
Canadian Museum of History, Cat. No. VII-B-1757