Small wooden totem pole

(I posted this under Tribal Art but had no replies, so thought I'd try posting it here.)

I know this totem is at least 15 years old, but beyond that know nothing of it's age or origin. It's about a foot high and I don't see a signature.

Any thoughts?

 

Here are a few closeup shots...

 

Hi. My name is Charlee. My father past away and left me very little. One thing I fought for (don't know why) was his little totem pole. Yours is extremely close to mine. Mine has no paint on it. He has no wings and his stand is missing also. He is pretty darn old. My dad would be 90 now and his father was 50 when my dad was born. This was his (my grandfathers before he gave it to my dad) I come from one of those secretive type families. So I know very little about where it was found. Somewhere in some woods either in Idaho or Oregon. Do you know much about yours? If you would like..I could send you a picture of Marvin. (Had to call him something) let me know if you want.

 

Why be so secretive ...post the photo's here..

 

Yes, Charlee, post your photos here.
Pat, I'll say with 95% certainty that your little pole was made by a member of the Rudolph family, Tlingits, originally from Angoon Alaska; likely around 1920-30. I'll add a link to a photo of James Rudolph, and you'll note some similarities to your pole (I think I mentioned that in your earlier thread). However, it takes some intense study to be able to point to the relevant similarities; otherwise, all small totems look pretty much alike.
One of the main features of the Rudolph poles is that they are wider front-to-back than from side-to-side; this is quite unusual in small totems.
They also use a distinctive shape to the mouth and teeth, seen on yours; and use more through-cuts than most other totems of the period, as seen in your bottom figure.
There is an article about the Rudolphs in the UW Press book "Carvings and Commerce" - if you happen to look it up you'll see that I contributed some totems from my own favorite carvers.
The top figure is likely Raven; bottom is likely Bear (one characteristic of the Rudolphs is that their treatment of the teeth is very herbivorous, less pointed than one might expect.)
Here's a photo of James Rudolph; http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg21/id/1601/rec/1
Note the middle figures in the poles on the left; very like the bottom figure on yours.
I think I once gave you a link in a conversation to a friend who has studied the Rudolphs extensively; he can be hard to reach though.
There has not been a lot of research or published work done on small totems made for sale in the early 1900s; the book mentioned is one of the first and best; and I have two websites devoted to a couple of specific villages. Other than that, even museums often don't have a lot.
( I wrote to the curator at the Alaska State Museum once, regarding some of their attributions, and their reply was that "based on your information we'll probably have to change a few of our labels."
Even the Burke Museum in Seattle has mis-attributed several of the totems in their collection, by citing the location where an item was collected rather than the place it was made.)