Lot 227
Unidentified Maker
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Maine
Note:
This low relief carved pole depicts an eagle atop a Tlingit shaman or Ixt', whose bodiless head and limbs are shown emerging from the background of the pole. Out of the Ixt''s mouth protrudes the tail of the Land Otter, a mythological creature closely associated with the otherworldly power of the Ixt'. The Land Otter is shown with its mouth grasping another depiction of an Ixt', the latter identifiable by the x-ray-like portal of its exposed ribcage.
Related Works:
Michael D. Hall, Pat Glascock, Carvings and Commerce: Model Totem Poles 1880-2010, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011), 61, pl. 6