November 14, 2006

A Very Special Purchase

The Art Bank is fortunate to have just received a work from the recent purchase titled “Eagle Copper”, by Jaalen Edenshaw, a member of the Ts'aahl Clan of Haida Gwaii. “Eagle Copper” continues the historical practice of creating “coppers” that were gifts given away during potlatch ceremonies on the Northwest Coast. Jaalen Edenshaw, who has apprenticed with some of the most famous Northwest Coast artists, Guujaaw, Beau Dick and Jim Hart, works primarily in wood and smithed copper. His work was included in Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art in the summer of 2006 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He lives and works in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).
 
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
A potlatch was a ceremony among certain American Indian tribes, including tribes on the Pacific Northwest Coast of the United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Such tribes included the Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw). The potlatch took the form of a ceremonial feast traditionally featuring seal meat or salmon. In it, hierarchical relations within and between groups were observed and reinforced through the exchange of gifts, dance performances, and other ceremonies. The host family demonstrated their wealth and prominence through giving away their possessions and thus prompting prominent participants to reciprocate when they hold their own potlatches.

Jaalen Edenshaw
Eagle Copper
2003
copper and wax