Object Catalog Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Carved rocking chair |
Object # |
97.1.1.76 Temp |
Object Name |
Chair, Rocking |
Date |
1880-1910 |
Artist |
Skulka, Haida Chief |
Description |
Hand carved wooden rocking chair Arm rests have a face carved in the front, and an eagle; the seat is rawhide strips woven around the frame. Quoted from an Alaska Sportsman Magazine article Oct.1953, p 27. "A unique chair, relic of the vanishing southeastern Alaska Indian culture, may be seen at Bell Island Hot Springs Resort near Ketchikan. More than a hundred years old, the rocking chair was carved by chief Skulka of the Haidas, and presented to J. Loomis Gould, missionary at Howkan. At the death of the missionary the chair went to his son. The late H.R. Gould, who spoke Haida as fluently as English. Now his widow shown at right with the prized chair is its owner. Entirely hand carved from a rare wood the Indians call "Hack-watack," found in this area only on Queen Charlotte Island, it has neither nail nor screw but is held together by wooden pegs. Once the back had a deerskin cover." Century - 20 |
Provenance |
Old exhibit label: "HAND MADE ROCKER Made for Rev. John Loomis Gould, Presbyterian Missionary to the Haida speaking Indians at Howkan in 1882." |
Material |
Wood/Leather/Metal |
Dimensions |
H-44 W-29 D-36 inches |
People |
Gould, Hal R. Gould, John Loomis Skulka Sobaleff, Walter |
Search Terms |
Haida Howkan Alaska Sportsman Magazine Furniture Native Northwest Coast Native Carving |
Credit line |
Ketchikan Museums: Tongass Historical Society Collection, THS 97.1.1.76 |