A monumental sculpture by Haida artist Bill Reid, carved from laminated yellow cedar and completed in 1980 for the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. It depicts the Haida creation story in which Raven, the trickster and creator, discovers a clamshell on the beach and coaxes the first humans out of it to become the first Haida. Vancouver industrialist Walter Koerner commissioned Reid in 1973 to enlarge a miniature boxwood carving Reid had made of the same subject; the finished work was fabricated from 106 laminated cedar beams and carved with the assistance of several other artists, Haida and non-Haida.
Facts
Origins
CreationSourced to the subject's own account Date of CreationSourced to the subject's own accountFabrication and carving began in the fall of 1978; the sculpture was completed April 1, 1980. 1 Commissioned BySourced to the subject's own accountWalter C. Koerner, Vancouver industrialist, commissioned the enlarged sculpture in 1973 for the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. 1 Attributed ToSourced to the subject's own accountBill Reid, Haida sculptor and goldsmith, assisted in the carving by George Norris, Guujaaw (Gary Edenshaw), George Rammell, Jim Hart and Reg Davidson. 2 Subject Matter
Depicted SubjectSourced to the subject's own accountRaven (Xhuuya), the Haida trickster and creator figure, releasing the first humans from a clamshell found on a beach, the widely published Haida creation story. No clan-owned crest, at.oow or ceremonial privilege is depicted or named. 2 Devotional FunctionSourced to the subject's own accountA public cultural and civic monument at a university museum rather than an object of ceremony; it depicts the published Raven creation cycle, distinct from the clan-owned ceremonial and crest knowledge Tlingit and Haida Religion's own restricted-tradition fact names as closed. 2 Physical Form
MediumSourced to the subject's own accountLaminated and carved yellow cedar 1 DimensionsSourced to the subject's own account188 by 192 centimeters, fabricated from 106 laminated cedar beams weighing over 4,000 kilograms 1 Custody
Current LocationSourced to the subject's own accountMuseum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada 1 Current CustodianSourced to the subject's own accountMuseum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Walter C. and Marianne Koerner Collection 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
A sculpture by a Haida artist depicting the Haida creation story, held at a public museum rather than an object of the tradition's own ceremonial life.
Depicts
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