JOHN MARKS (IRHTEENA) (1876-1952) HAIDA
Model Totem Pole, c. 1920s
argillite, 7 x 1.5 x 1 in (17.8 x 3.8 x 2.5 cm)
unsigned.

ESTIMATE: $1,500 — $2,500

Provenance
A Vancouver Collection.

Here is a highly unusual design for a Haida model pole in argillite, carved by a well-known artist by the name of John Marks of Masset. The composition follows convention in terms of how the images are stacked upon one another in a vertical line, but the content of those images is about as different as can be from the typical Haida model pole. The top figure is a woman, depicted with her arms folded at her waist. She is seated on the head of a small-beaked bird, whose head turns up at the back to accommodate the woman seated above. The bird has large round eyes and a small, slightly recurved beak. Its short, rounded body supports similarly short, rounded wings embellished with incised lines indicating feathers. Its small feet are perched on the forehead of another bird with a heavy brow, small eyes, and a small, triangular beak. Curiously, this bird’s body and wings are carved to almost resemble body armour and shields. Between the wings is a small humanoid face of undetermined identity with a downturned mouth and small eyes.

Steven C. Brown

Marius Barbeau devotes a section to John Marks in his book Haida Carvers in Argillite (Ottawa: Dept. of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources / National Museum of Canada, 1957; repr. 1974), pp. 199-203. He discusses the artist’s idiosyncratic style and imagery, noting that he was the only argillite carver to regularly depict nude women. Barbeau identifies the two birds as Hummingbirds, crest animals of Marks’s family. An almost identical argillite pole is illustrated on page 199.