“A” Orca Pendant
Availability: Only 1 available
by Lyle Wilson
Sterling silver, 14K Yellow Gold, Engraved, Textured
“This group of pendants, brooches and earrings were inspired by an earlier painting of mine entitled ABC’s: Reconstituted, 2011. The subject matter is the English alphabet rendered in the Pacific Northwest Coast (PNC) formline style. It is my recognition that educational ideals are steadily becoming incorporated into the fabric of PNC people’s lives. That’s a good thing, and these jewelry pieces are my little way of recognizing the importance of continuing modern educational ideals.”
– Lyle Wilson, 2016
1.25 x 0.75"
$400.00 CAD
Only 1 available
Reserve this artwork- Description
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Sterling silver, 14K Yellow Gold, Engraved, Textured
“This group of pendants, brooches and earrings were inspired by an earlier painting of mine entitled ABC’s: Reconstituted, 2011. The subject matter is the English alphabet rendered in the Pacific Northwest Coast (PNC) formline style. It is my recognition that educational ideals are steadily becoming incorporated into the fabric of PNC people’s lives. That’s a good thing, and these jewelry pieces are my little way of recognizing the importance of continuing modern educational ideals.”
– Lyle Wilson, 2016
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Supernatural Log Bracelet
Marcel Russ
Price upon requestSterling silver, Engraved
Domed, TaperedThe Supernatural Log is more commonly referred to as Snag or Ts’Amos (Alternate spellings: Ttaamuus, Tsamaos). He is the personification of the seafaring Haidas’ obstacles while on the ocean in canoes; driftwood or deadheads. The Snag is an amorphous supernatural creature both in artwork and in legend and first appeared as a crest figure of families along the Skeena River. It is believed to have first appeared on jewelry designs by the famed Charles Edenshaw, whose father took the Snag as a crest.
A Snag can vary in appearance, much like the driftwood it imitates, but it almost always has a snag (deadhead) for a dorsal fin. It can be as simple as a dead log with a tail that can swim against the current. It can be a huge sea lion with dorsal fins and blowholes, or an enormous grizzly bear with a downturned mouth like a dogfish. It can be a hybrid of bear and Killerwhale, or raven and Killerwhale, with multiple bodies. It can be a large frog covered in seaweed with a snag sticking out of its back, and can even be a canoe or a schooner. Most visible at the change of tides, the Snag, if angered can breach and land on canoes, smashing them to bits. He also can make huge waves to capsize boats. The Snag was frequently featured as a protective figure on Bentwood Boxes that contained treasured artifacts, and is frequently depicted with Raven, its counterpart.
The Snag is a very important feature in the Haida legend of How the World Was Formed. Before there was the world as we know it, Raven was flying and flying and flying, and finally came to rest on a single rock, which was the tip of Haida Gwaii and the beginning of the world. This rock, was supported beneath (from the undersea world) by a stone house pole, which was in fact the fin of the Snag. It is therefore common to see the Raven and Snag in conjunction in Haida art. The Snag figure can be seen as an acceptance of responsibility for supporting the world, similar to the Atlas figure in Greek mythology.
It is believed the legends around the Snag was a warning for those who travelled by canoe to be more wary of their surroundings, especially at the change of the tides, and keep them alert on the water. When the tides change, deadheads and hidden logs or obstacles can suddenly appear and be a danger. As the Haida relied on trade with Mainland Nations to survive, it was pertinent for them to be adept at sea, paddling the vast distances to and from the islands to the coast.
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“Getting Things Right” Cockleshell Rattle Amulet with Hat Stand
Gwaai Edenshaw
Price upon request22K Yellow Gold, Platinum, Abalone shell, Cast, Engraved
Includes Skil Hat Stand; Yew wood, Brass
Edition 1 of 3
20085.25″ x 2.75″ x 2.75″ (including stand)
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Raven Transforming Into Human Pendant
Philip Janze
Price upon request22K Yellow Gold, Repousse, Chased, Engraved
Domed
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Eulachon Canoe Mountain
Lyle Wilson
$425.00 CADIntaglio Print on acid-free paper
Edition of 50
2016
Unframed
(For inquiries on custom framing, please contact the gallery)
13 x 11.5″ (Paper size)
7 x 5.25″ (Image size)
“My first experience actually seeing traditional carving in situ was fishing eulachon at Kemano. I saw graveyard memorials (ah-aluuch-tin): grey, weather-beaten and somewhat moss-covered, but very impressive in their natural state and site. Although I didn’t know it at the time, it was part of the beginning of my life-long interest in Haisla culture.
The eulachon fish are special to the Haisla people. At Kitamaat, there is a mountain that has a dip in its outline which the Haisla liken to a canoe. When the sun set in this ‘canoe-dip,’ that signaled that the eulachon were about to spawn in the Kitamaat River and all the Haisla eagerly awaited them!
The wildlife that also pursued eulachon was a true natural phenomenon: eagles, seals, sea lions, crows, ravens, seagulls, otters, mink, sawbill ducks, halibut, porpoises, bullheads, and undoubtedly many others one couldn’t see! To represent all of these creatures in one image, a raven, seagull, sea lion and bullhead are shown, each with an eulachon close to their mouths.
The sea gull is important because Haisla history likened the thousands of gulls flying around the estuary of the Kitmaat River to a giant monster’s mouth; therefore, Kitamaat was a place avoided until the first Haisla settled there.
A young Haisla girl sat on the riverbank and watched as a bullhead waited on the river’s bottom and let the current sweep eulachon into its wide mouth. The traditional net (tak-calth) used to fish eulachon also has a wide mouth and also tapers to a narrow end like a bullhead’s body. A bullhead is shown with a net-like pattern on its body, alluding to the tak-calth’s inspiration.” – Lyle Wilson, 2016
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Iksduq’iya & Qolun (Eagle & Beaver) Box
Lyle Wilson
Price upon requestSterling Silver, Engraved and Textured on Hollow-ware2015
“My father’s Eagle Clan adopted me, but I was actually born into my mother’s Beaver Clan. Since the Haisla followed a matrilineal system, whereby every child was automatically included into its mother’s clan, my unusual adoption was due to the circumstances of the Eagle Clan having so many of its members die. Due to the early and unfamiliar diseases, everyone feared the clan would eventually become extinct.
I’ve always loved the look of a full-size, traditional wooden bent-box and liked the idea of a smaller, silver box using the same traditional proportions. It adds a unique sculptural look to any small box which, once seen, becomes a more appreciated detail with every subsequent examination. The box’s construction technique is very deceptive; it looks solid but is actually a box-within-a-box, with the hollow spaces between each ‘box’ allowing for visually thicker walls. For this box, I decided to honor my connections to both Haisla Clans – Beaver and Eagle – by engraving each on one-half of the box. The box’s lid has another Eagle engraved on the top, and the Halibut, a sub-crest shared by both clans, is engraved around the edges.”
-Lyle Wilson, 2016
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Ḡax̄ & Gizawa (Raven’s Sun) Pendant
Lyle Wilson
Price upon request18K Yellow Gold, Abalone shell, Engraved, Textured, Repoussé, Chased
2013“This is the story of Raven stealing the ‘Ball of Light.’ When the world was dark, Raven heard of a magical ball of light that an old chief owned. Raven decided to trick the old man and he did so by changing himself into a pine needle and floating into the chief’s daughter’s cup of water. She drank the pine needle along with the water, became pregnant, and Raven was reborn as a young boy. Eventually, the chief let his grandson (Raven) play with the Ball of Light (Moon). Raven escaped through the big-house’s smoke hole, turning his white feathers black from the soot in the process.
The Moon was heavy and Raven became too tired to fly. Rather than let the pursuing chief regain it, he chose to throw the Moon into the sky. Ever since then, the ‘Ball of Light’ has been his gift to mankind. This story has also served as a metaphor for the beginning of human consciousness on the Pacific Northwest Coast.
On this pendant, the Raven occupies the corona, while the central face represents the ‘Ball of Light.'”
-Lyle Wilson, 2016