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<p>[QUOTE="all_fakes, post: 137509, member: 55"]Yes, Charlee, post your photos here.</p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p> 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.</p><p>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.)</p><p>Here's a photo of James Rudolph; <a href="http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg21/id/1601/rec/1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg21/id/1601/rec/1" rel="nofollow">http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg21/id/1601/rec/1</a></p><p> Note the middle figures in the poles on the left; very like the bottom figure on yours.</p><p> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>( 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."</p><p>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.)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="all_fakes, post: 137509, member: 55"]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; [URL]http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg21/id/1601/rec/1[/URL] 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.)[/QUOTE]
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