Bent-corner chest

ca. 1860

Captain (Richard) Carpenter (Du'klwayella)

Heiltsukw, Waglisla, 1841-1931

This chest was collected in Alaska but is certainly from the hand of a Heiltsuk (northern British Columbia) artist named Captain Richard Carpenter. His signature approach to carving and painting can be seen in the clarity and uniformity of his beautiful designs, an overall pattern of sinuous formlines in black and red, tulip-shaped red and blue U-shaped forms, and embellishment with crosshatching and dashes in selected areas.

Yellow cedar, red cedar, paint

21 1/4 x 35 3/4 x 20 1/2 in. (54 x 90.8 x 52.1 cm)

Gift of John H. Hauberg and John and Grace Putnam

86.278

Provenance: John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington and John and Grace Putnam, Bellevue, Washington, until 1986; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Native Visions: Northwest Coast Art, 18th Century to the Present, October 1, 1998 - January 31, 1999

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Box Of Daylight: Nortwest Coast Indian Art, September 15, 1983 - January 8, 1984

Published ReferencesHolm, Bill, Box of Daylight: Northwest Coast Indian Art, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum / University of Washington Press, 1983, no. 109, p. 71, illus.

Selected Works, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 71

The Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1995, p. 176

Brown, Steven C., Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1998, p. 105

Sands, Stella, Kids Discover Northwest Coast Peoples, 2007, pp. 8-9

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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