Images(4)

Yéil X'eenh (Raven Screen)

Dateca. 1810

Attributed to Native American, Kadyisdu.axch', Tlingit, Kiks.adi clan active late 18th - early 19th century

Label TextThe wooden screen and houseposts adorned with mythical beings sacred to the clan are the focal point of the longhouse. Functionally, the screen creates a separation for the quarters of th house master (Hít S'ááti), entrusted with protecting clan treasures (at.óow). Black formlines define Raven's broad face, body, wings and tail feathers. Its legs are painted red, as are other shapes that define its anatomy, and blue-painted elements create balance and contrast.

Object number79.98

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Published ReferencesAdams, Laurie Schneider, World Views Topics in Non-Western Art, New York: McGraw Hill, p. 101 Selected Works, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 77 The Spirit Within: Northwest Coast Native Art from the John H. Hauberg Collection, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1995, p. 44 Kodansha. Weekly World Travel, No. 94, 2000, p. 16 Brotherton, Barbara, Native Art of the Northwest Coast, A Community of Collectors, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 2008, p. 142, illus. fig. 1. Stark, Peter, Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire, A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival, New York: Harper Collins, 2014, illus. on unnumbered plate, credit p. 353

Credit LineGift of John H. Hauberg

Dimensions105 3/4 x 129 in. (268.62 x 327.66 cm)

MediumSpruce, paint