Featured Tsimshian totem

I've mentioned before that I pick these up whenever I see them and they're not too expensive. This 8.5" one (22cm) was interesting because of the two raven (?) faces.




The stamp and the signature on the base led me to this similar one:



Say what? That price is 200x what I paid! What am I missing?

@komokwa
@all_fakes

Thanks in advance.

 

They want that money for the name !
It's a low end tourist pole , yours is a tad better, that maybe took an hour to make and 5 minutes to paint , and was made over and over again for Ferries and tourist traps up and down the coast.

At $400 , it'll never sell and brings shame upon the guy trying to sell it ! imo..

 

I appreciate your opinion.

I thought that Cisco's was a reputable, if overpriced, outfit. I've been in their showroom in Idaho, and the inventory they have is legit. Superb quality. Also premium prices.

 

they may be so........ but not here !!

 

More details - since I do know a lot about Tsimshian totem poles from the Metlakatla area. This is indeed a model of the Chief Johnson totem, now standing in Ketchikan. Depicts a story about Raven and Fog Woman; I've seen the two birds referred to as owls, but more accurately they are probably referred to as slaves of Raven. It is missing a bird (called the Kajuk) which should be at the top.
Yours is not as well-carved as the one at Ciscos, for whatever reason.
Ciscos price is probably based on the name - Conrad Mather poles, signed, are not as common as some others; but that does not necessarily indicate they are well-carved. This one was done very quickly, but is certainly genuine.
Brief Metlakatla history:
Metlakatla, Alaska was founded in 1887 by a lay minister, William Duncan, and a group of around 830 Tshimsian who followed him from Old Metlakatla, which Duncan had established in what would become British Columbia. Duncan banned traditional practices but encouraged carving of souvenirs.
Models of the real totems in Ketchikan, especially the Chief Kian and Chief Johnson totems, were a common subject for the early Metlakatla carvers, and a totem sometimes called the "good luck" totem, based on a Tsimshian clan totem was specific to Metlakatla. Carvers included the Mather family, Caspar and George and Conrad, Eli Tait, Clyde Boyd and a number of others.

 

George Mather model of Chief Kian pole:


Metlakatla "good luck" poles by Eli Tait and Caspar Mather:


Eli Tait poles: "good luck," Chief Kian, and Chief Johnson totems.

 

Thanks a bunch for the information @all_fakes. I really appreciate the chance to learn and to be able to better contextualize (and conceptualize) interesting things like this. I can't seem to find too much about the life of Conrad Mather.

And I love the collections in your pics. I'm assuming those are yours? I especially like the bears on the bottoms of the 'good luck' poles.

Thanks again.

 

Very interesting. Thank you

 

Yes, these are some of my model totem poles from Metlakatla carvers.
Genealogy information on the Mather family is a bit convoluted, and I might be criticized for discussing the genealogy of a First Nations/Native American family not my own, but I believe Conrad Mather, 1923-2002, was a schoolteacher in Ketchikan; he did carve some small totempoles, but not as many as his brother George Mather Sr. or George's son George Jr. Conrad's father was Rev. Paul Mather, first Native deacon from Southeast Alaska in 1927. Paul and his brother Caspar were among those who came to Metlakatla in 1987. Their father Edward Keith Mather, 1848-1925 was a blacksmith and silver-worker, known for his spoons.
Paul's sons Conrad and George were adopted and raised by Caspar Mather; all of Caspar's 13 children predeceased him, many in infancy.

 

Appreciate the family background.