Featured West Coast carving with a price tag

I almost never see West Coast native pieces here in New England, but when I do I try to get them. Here is one of only two wood carvings I've found. This one is unusual in having an original price tag, but I don't know when it would have been sold though clearly 20th century. Nor do I know where "The Museum Shop" is, or really anything else about it. I couldn't find anything on Art Charlie when I searched a few months ago, yet happened to wander into another thread here that mentioned "Art Charlie". How lucky was that? Clearly this is the right place to ask, and I would love to get any information I can?

 

Could this be the same carver? Norman Charlie
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/332332182104?rmvSB=true

 

Different carver, could be related to Art.
This is the thread Jeff is referring to, with a carving by Art Charlie:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/2-pieces-west-coast-carvings.22460/#post-302504

 

I don't know any more about Art Charlie than I mentioned in the other thread:
"As mentioned, Art Charlie is the older brother of Ike Charlie; of the Nuu Chah Nulth tribe (previously Nootka) first nation Ahousaht band (Flores Island, 18 km northwest of Tofino). Ike learned carving from Art. Not related to Simon Charlie or Stephen Charlie, Squamish (Coast Salish) so far as I know."

 

The Museum Shop
4.4 (51) · $$ · Gift Shop
Family-friendly store for unique keepsakes & gifts related to science & history.
American Museum of Natural History

possible ?

 

$75 is a whack o' dough for a little carving like that !!!!
I hear NY is expensive...

 

Definitely possible, although suspect many museums call their gift shop The Museum Shop. The one at the AMNH does carry some authentically NAM items at prices that are usually not so bad when you take into account that essentially you are making a donation on top of retail.

 

This is my thinking, though it is all guesswork unless someone can fill in some real facts. The price tag doesn't look new - say 60's to 80's (there are no bar codes). I was thinking it was more likely to come from a museum in the Pacific Northwest. Like here: http://www.gayot.com/Travel/Attractions/Destinations/North-America/Canada/Vancouver/Museum-Anthropology
"The museum shop features a fine selection of Northwest Coast gold and silver jewelry, limited edition prints, carvings, baskets and masks, all created by first nation artists."

Though I have never made it further north than Seattle myself, this reminded me of the shops in Arizona which cater to tourists on their way to the Grand Canyon and buy items as souvenirs, some of them cheap and inauthentic, but others with high prices and authenticity. How many of these museums and giftshops are in the Pacific Northwest or what kind of pricetags they use, I am afraid I have no idea.

Also, the fact that people talk about other carvers in terms of their relation to Art Charlie makes me wonder if it isn't him that is the best known of these related carvers. The high price for a piece that is only about 3x5 inches made me think that was likely.

As to Museum of Natural History in NYC, I've been there and looking at the gift shop online, I think its mostly fossils, animal and science related stuff and not so much native american items.

 

the museum shop is in caps......not the MOA.....I have seen their gift shop tags...

 

The AMNH shop no longer carries the same variety & quality of items that it once did - hard times made them cut back severely on this. What is offered on line now may not be representative of what was available when the mask was purchased. I have a NAM antler/shell/MOP/fur Kolowisi & a pottery 'Storyteller Ball', both delightful, that came from there, probably 1980s. Since the mask fetched up in New England, AMNH a more likely possibility than it would be if mask were in the Northwest, but really think there have to be a great many 'The Museum Shop's out there.

 

That isn't necessarily true; especially when the talk is that "he isn't related to Stephen Charlie or Simon Charlie." Both Simon and Stephen Charlie are pretty well known, and it is easy to find info about them; the same is not true of Ike and Art Charlie.
The only information that I was able to locate about this Charlie family was a very short mention of Ike C, indicating not much more than his tribal affiliation, and mentioning his brother Art only in passing. Of the two, Ike is clearly the more skilled carver.
One can usually assume that siblings are from the same tribe or band; but cannot assume that siblings are equally skilled.
While it is genuine Northwest Coast art, the carving shown above is pretty rudimentary, as are the other carvings I've seen by Art Charlie; nothing special, and not something I'd personally pay $75 or even $50 for today.
Sorry to be blunt, but this is not a major work of NW Coast art.
PS: Norman Charlie, mentioned in a post above, is not related to Ike and Art Charlie; wrong tribal affiliation. The better-known Charlie family is Coast Salish; Art and Ike C. are Nuu-Chah-Nulth.

 

"he isn't related to Stephen Charlie or Simon Charlie."
both those guys are know,,,& good !

 

but really think there have to be a great many 'The Museum Shop's out there.

Don't just think...show us !
I found the AMNH....listing their store as The Museum Shop....same as on the tag, & I know that they've carried like items in the past.

 

Couple things. First of all this isn't by Art Charlie II, which was the piece in the other thread, but by Art Charlie who is clearly a different person. The fact the other guy is number 2 makes me think Art Charlie is the older relation of Art2 and Ike. I don't know if that is good or bad, I was hoping someone here did. Where do I find out about all these Charlie's and how they are related?

Second, I know this is small and didn't expect much value and certainly didn't imply it was a major work. Plus I got this for less than two bucks so I'm not expecting to retire to Alaska. I do think this is well carved compared to many other pieces out there including the ones in the other post, though, and since a museum gift shop thought it was worth so much money a couple decades ago, and since it is signed by someone in a known family of carvers, I think it's worth investigating.

 

This looks to also have the II signature mark - maybe he used a different signature at one time? AWC II to Art C II?
I couldn't find out anymore information on Art C II

 

It's a nice little carving, but that's all it is...

 

Yes.

As to how to find out more: I've tried everything I know of, and found only what I posted before, which provided only tribal affiliation.
There are a great many carvers of NW Coast native items, and many are not well-documented online, or anywhere else. They sell souvenir-quality native art to local shops in Vancouver BC or Anchorage Alaska without gaining any fame or online recognition. Often carving is a sideline for a fisherman, carpenter, or dishwasher, and is not a full-time occupation.
For a "known" family, you would find quite a few online references; as one moves into lesser-known, there will be fewer and fewer.
You could check Ancestry.com, as one other possibility. Ike Charlie has a facebook page; you could contact him. https://www.facebook.com/IkeCharlie
Museum gift shops are notoriously over-priced, and I wouldn't assume a carving of this sort would have increased in value, or is more than what it appears to be, a pretty basic gift-shop native carving.

 

In any case, good luck with your search, Jeff.

(Some years ago I tried to research a small totempole by a carver named Eli Tait; I couldn't find anything, and eventually started a web page asking for information. It became sort of an obsession; I ended up in contact with several of his descendants, and now am perhaps somewhat of an authority on carvers from his town.
Google his name or Metlakatla carvers and you'll find the results of that obsession.)

 

Not knowing the names of all the museum shops in all the English speaking world, I can't rule out that such an obvious, simple name hasn't been used at more than the AMNH. Maybe 'great many' was overstating it. Think their shop is quite a likely source for the mask; not willing to say it's a certainty. If it's keeping you awake at night, you can do the research to confirm or refute. My main point was really that even if they no longer stock such things, I know, as do you, that they once did. Let me know what you find out about museum shop names.

 

Sorry, you're absolutely right, I somehow missed the II at the end, so this must be the same guy who simply changed his sig a little over time. Tthanks for pointing that out.