Monumental Totem Pole with Eagle, Whale, and Human Face

KWAKWAKA'WAKW Alert Bay ('Yalis), British Columbia Possibly George Hunt (1854–1933) or a member of the Hunt family Monumental Totem Pole with Eagle, Whale, and Human Face Probably early 20th century, c. 1900–1930 Carved and polychromed cedar 118 × 94 × 42 in. This monumental pole depicts a great Eagle or Thunderbird with outstretched wings above a vertically arranged whale and a large human or ancestral face at the base. Separately carved wings and projecting fins extend dramatically beyond the central trunk, reflecting the theatrical character of monumental Kwakwaka'wakw carving. The composition has close parallels in historic Alert Bay poles in which a great supernatural bird surmounts a vertically descending whale, including the celebrated Kwa̱nu'sila pole formerly standing in the village. The present work, however, is not a direct copy of that pole and omits figures found in the historic Kwa̱nu'sila composition. Like its companion, the pole has been associated by a knowledgeable specialist with the Hunt family of Alert Bay, possibly George Hunt himself.