Dlam (interior housepost)

Dateca. 1907

Maker Arthur Shaughnessy (Hemasilakw) Native American, Kwakwaka'wakw, Dzawada'enuxw, Kingcome Inlet, 1884 - 1945

Label TextJust twenty-three years old when he carved and painted these impressive interior houseposts, Shaughnessy was already nudging established Kwakwaka'wakw traditions in a modern direction. The sculpture is deeply-modeled, with additional elements that surpass the limitations of the cylindrical log. He imparts his own distinctive painting style-a free adaptation of Northern formline design-and heightens the dramatic effects by adding bright white and yellow to the standard red, black and green Kwakwaka'wakw palette.

This house post is one of a pair of house posts carved from the straight-grained heartwood of the western red cedar. The house posts were once positioned at the rear of a great house erected in 1915 by John Scow of the Gwa'yasdams village on the central British Columbia coast. In addition to these two posts, a pair of posts also flanked the entrance to the house. Some time after all four posts were erected, a special dedication potlatch was held to validate the long-ago origins of the Scow family. This history would include descriptions of the place where the first ancestor settled and the connections of the ancestors to powerful mythic beings, including stories of great deeds that brought them into contact with the supernatural beings depicted on the posts.

Symbolically, this esteemed family lineage supports the house. These posts, positioned at the rear of the house, depict supernatural thunderbirds (called kolus) with outstretched wings, perched atop a crouching bear.

Object number82.169.2

ProvenanceChief John Scow (Minlass), Gwa'yasdam village, Gilford Island, British Columbia; Chief William Scow (his son), Gwa'yasdam village, Gilford Island, British Columbia, until 1966; John H. Hauberg, Seattle, Washington, 1966-1982; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan Cole

Published ReferencesThe Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle Art Museum, 1995, pg. 250 Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures, London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 28

Credit LineGift of John H. Hauberg

Dimensions180 x 132 x 34 in. (457.2 x 335.28 x 86.36 cm)

MediumRed cedar, paint