figure
- Museum number
- Am1954,05.1000
- Description
-
Figure group (European man and woman) made of argillite.
- Production date
- 1850-1870 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 19.50 centimetres
-
Width: 13 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Three periods in argillite carving have been identified. The first, which lasted from 1820-1835 was dominated by the production of pipes carved with traditional Haida designs. The second overlapping period, from about 1830-1865 is dominated by the use of European and American motifs. Pipes were still the most prominent form, but other categories of object such as plates and figurines came to be made in argillite. The last period, from which this figure originates lasted from 1870-1910 and saw the virtual disappearance of pipes and the emergence of a host of new forms including model totem poles, houses, figures of shamans and a great variety of plates, platters and bowls. This period saw the greatest decline in Haida social life; this occurred through population decrease, brought about by the introduction of new diseases, and through the intrusion of missionaries attempting to persuade the Haida to abandon their traditional value systems.
- Location
- On display (G26/dc7)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1980 Feb-1983 Aug, Museum of Mankind, Room 9; Art Made for Strangers: Haida Argillite Carving
1993-95, London, Museum of Mankind, 'Treasures of the Americas'
1996 Feb-1998 Feb, Museum of Mankind, Treasures of the Collections
1998 1 Mar-24 May, BM Room 35, BP Ethnography Showcase: The Return of the Museum of Mankind
2011 2 Mar-8 Sep, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Northwest Coast of America"
2011-2012, 6 Oct-19 Feb, British Museum, Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman
- Acquisition date
- 1954
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1954,05.1000
