ROBERT DAVIDSON (GUUD SANS GLANS), C.M., O.B.C., (1946-) HAIDA, MASSET / WHITE ROCK
Frontal Frog Cuff / Bangle Bracelet, 1976
testing 22kt gold, 1.5 x 2.5 x 2 in (3.8 x 6.3 x 5.1 cm) / circumference: 6.75 in (17.1 cm), 50 g
signed, dated, and inscribed, “Я Davidson / 76 22k".

Provenance
Alcheringa Gallery, Victoria, BC;
Acquired from the above by Mr Morton and Mrs Estelle Sosland;
Estate of the above.

At the age of twenty, Robert Davdison began his 18 month apprenticeship with Bill Reid. From Reid, Davidson learned, amongst other skills, the art of engraving and other jewellery making techniques. His early metalwork attempts are somewhat less intuitive in their composition as Davidson was, to some degree at this time, still attempting to transcribe the Haida imagery of past generations of artists. At the encouragement of Reid, Davidson registered at the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr College of Art and Design), where he learned the fundamentals of drawing and made several examples of experimental, non-Haida jewellery. Almost immediately after his enrollment, his work gained a fresh vitality, and to this day Davidson continues to demonstrate innovation in his approaches to art making of all types.

Created in 1976, the present lot was created at a seminal moment in Davidson’s career as a goldsmith. The smooth, tooled surfaces, fluent engraving, and incised details combine to express the conventionalized anatomy of a frontal frog. With remarkable elegance, the subject’s form is depicted in sweeping curves and precise details as it stretches around the convex surface of the bangle. We admire the sureness of touch and easy control of shapes, each of which take place in a complex and well planned design by a master artist.

References: For a discussion on Davidson’s apprenticeship with Reid, see Ian Thom, ed., Robert Davidson: Eagle of the Dawn, (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1993), p. 66-67; 70. Notably, Thom indicates that the Frog “has become for Davidson his ‘spirit helper,’” (p. 66); For earlier examples in precious metals see Box, c. 1967, Museum of Anthropology, Object No. Nb1.492 a-b and Bracelet, 1967, Museum of Anthropology, Object No. 2512/3. See also Peter Macnair, The Legacy: Tradition And Innovation In Northwest Coast Indian Art, (Victoria, BC: Royal British Columbia Museum, 2007), pp. 88-92.