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Bent-corner chief's chest
Native American, Haida
about 1850
Object Place: British Columbia (Coastal), Canada
Medium/Technique
Yellow cedar and red cedar with red (Chinese vermilion and red ochre) and black pigment
Dimensions
67.94 x 61.59 x 105.09 cm (26 3/4 x 24 1/4 x 41 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by a friend of the Department of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture
Accession Number1997.9
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsFurniture – Case furniture and boxes
DescriptionLarge rectangular box with thick, plank base and thicker plank cover. Front and back fields entirely filled with flat, linear images in black and red that are shallowly carved. Negative/positive compositional tension between paint and wood color. Black linear ovoids, circles, and calligraphic lines predominate. Recognizable eye, teeth, and hand images in composition. Side panels are painted linearly in red and black but uncarved. Large negative shapes in upper and lower corners with symbols in character with the front and back bridging negative areas.
ProvenanceSince at least the 1940s and probably earlier, said to have been in the family of a Mr. Dan, member of one of the Coast Salish tribes; passed to his wife, Mrs. Dan, Musqueam Reservation, Vancouver, BC; sold by Mrs. Dan to Donald Ellis Gallery, Dundas, ON; 1997, sold by Donald Ellis Gallery to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 26, 1997)