Qoluun (Beaver) Panel
Availability: Only 1 available
by Lyle Wilson
Yellow Cedar wood
36 x 25.25 x 1.25" (91.44 x 64.14 x 3.18cm)
CA$16,000.00
Only 1 available
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Yellow Cedar wood
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Where Air Meets Water: The Eagle and Killerwhale Panel
Corrine Hunt
Price upon requestBone ash, graphite and aluminum composite
Limited edition of 9
Please ask us about custom orders
In this panel design Corrine Hunt has propelled her use of the medium in such a way that she invites a ‘contemporary’ perception of form. The panel is made from a composite of bone ash, graphite, and aluminum; the organic black colour coming from the ash. The panel itself has been cut from a technically controlled machine, and then has been hand-finished and polished to a luminous sheen.
Corrine’s concept for the panel is based upon the physical depiction of air meeting water; a drop of water which creates a swirl as the air affects its surface. The whorl-shape created by this abstract notion has produced the forms of an Eagle, on the upper left side of the panel, and an Orca; it’s body elusively curving around the right side of the panel. Corrine has continued to play with the whirlpool concept by introducing echoing shapes and forms that reflect across the surface of the panel and invite the viewer to explore the “water’s” surface.
In First Nations art and culture, the Eagle is seen as the symbol of status, power, peace, and friendship, whilst the Killerwhale is revered for its powerful hunting ability and is considered to be the sea manifestation of the Wolf. Both in legend and in the wild, the Killerwhale guards its family for a lifetime. Again, the artist is working around the model of “Air meeting Water”, both visually and in her choice of crest figures.
The artist’s intention in her design is to mesmerize the viewer; she combines traditional formlines of the Northwest Coast with the interpretive concepts of post modernism, allowing the eye to move seamlessly and always see something new.
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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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Watchmen with Raven, Seabear, Killerwhale, Humans & Octopus | Tusk Sculpture
Gary Olver
CA$12,000.00Walrus Tusk (Ivory), Abalone Shell
For more details on shipping Ivory outside of Canada, please click here and then click open the Shipping section and scroll down to read more on Shipping Restrictions.
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Sawgum (Seal) Bowl
Lyle Wilson
CA$25,000.00Yew wood
This SAWGUM (seal) bowl is carved from a section from a large GLUMC (yew wood) log, and its growth rings indicated the original tree would have been approximately 350 yrs old.
Pacific Northwest Coast (PNC) carvers generally don’t carve GLUMC because it’s a very tough, wild-grained, and relatively rare wood. It also usually has many knots and other “flaws” — characteristics that ensured that even in the olden days, it wasn’t used very extensively. Whenever GLUMC was actually carved, the items were generally simple, small and utilitarian: spoons, clubs, paddles, bowls, etc..
The large size of the original tree was something that NUGWA (I/me) wanted to highlight, as its life started off approximately in the mid-1600’s. To get a perfect piece of GLUMC, its numerous flaws would need to be cut away, resulting in a significantly smaller piece of wood. So included in this SAWGUM bowl are K’IB’UM (inserts shaped like a “butterfly”) — a traditional repair technique now seldom seen or used. NUGWA am using K’IB’UM more often because of it’s visual decorative effect and my desire to preserve it’s usage. Using K’IB’UM is also a practical way to keep the dimensions of the original piece of GLUMC because the cutting-away process is kept to a minimum — a “perfect piece of wood” is not the goal, but preserving the large dimension is.
Many fine, old SAWGUM bowls exist in various collections and are usually carved out of other wood species: GLA-GLA-DA-LAS (alder), JAWEE-CLA-LAS (maple), HUU-AMA-LAS (birch), etc.. These bowls were traditionally used at a HEY-MAS’s (chief) potlatch, or feast, to serve important guests their food. The real SAWGUM was a coveted, rich food and it’s fat was often rendered down into a condiment oil to accompany dried foods. So a SAWGUM bowl became a symbol of chiefly wealth.
GLUMC was also used as a traditional medicine — it’s wood, bark and needles were boiled in hot water to make a “tea” to cure various sicknesses.
So this large SAWGUM bowl gives the salvaged, original piece of GLUMC a second “life”, rather than being left to eventually rot away, and forgotten, in an abandoned logging clearcut.
Lyle Wilson 2024
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Ge’lwa (Canoe) Bowl
Lyle Wilson
SOLDYew wood
Not many people had the knowledge and skills to make a AIX (good) GELWA (canoe) and in the olden days the GELWA was basically the sole means for transportation, hunting and food-gathering. So a CHEH-SEE-LA-NEEUCH (canoe builder) was an extremely important because of his knowledge in cutting down a large tree, carving and hollowing it into its semi-final shape, and finally steaming the GELWA wider into its finished shape.
A AIX GELWA has compound flares, concavities, and convexities — inside and out. The sides flare up, ending in a smaller flare at the gunnels. The outside of the hull is a convex shape that transforms into a series of concavities to form the stern and bow — in addition the bow has a cut-water flange. All these forms are seamlessly, and aesthetically, integrated in a manner subtle enough not to undermine a GELWA’s ultimate function of cutting through, controlling and deflecting the element of water.
The GELWA ranged in size from small to large. The smaller sizes were used for 1 or 2 people travelling in local waters, while the larger ones were used for longer trips — such as visiting neighbouring villages or on the open ocean.
There were different types of GELWA: ‘LEE-WA-JEE (hunting canoe), WA-WA-‘SEELA-JEE (river canoe), DAH-GWAN (very large canoe used for the open ocean), THLA-LA-KA-PA-JEE (racing canoe), KEE-KA-JA-NAUCH (spoon canoe), and CHAH-JEE (model canoe).
Although there are no full-size examples remaining (only old models), apparently in pre-contact times the GELWA was originally made with its ends shaped differently: longer stern and the bow was basically a large, thin, vertical and flat area — some call this type of early GELWA a “Head canoe” or “Long-Tail” canoe. It is thought that this large, flat, bow-area made this type of GELWA difficult to control in strong winds and tidal currents. So, over time, the GELWA’s shape was refined by cutting away some of the bow and stern to form the classic Pacific Northwest Coast northern-style GELWA that we are familiar with today.
NUGWA (I/me) was always fascinated with the GELWA and this GLUMC (yew wood) bowl is basically a CHAH-JEE of a pre-contact GELWA. The shape lends itself to a PNC formline image — in this case a marine creature. In addition NUGWA carved water being parted to form the GELWA’s wake; implying the CHAH-JEE is moving forward, cutting through the water. This detail comes from my reminiscing of earlier times at C’IMOTSA (KITAMAAT) where NUGWA had the privilege of paddling some GELWA (also used an outboard motor on the “modern” GELWA while fishing and hunting), as well as during my later years when NUGWA was invited to paddle around Vancouver’s False Creek in a newly-made HAIDA GELWA.
Lyle Wilson 2024
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The Swimmers Pin/Pendant
Lyle Wilson
CA$4,000.00Platinum, Abalone shell, Cast, Engraved, Textured
Edition 14/14
2001