totem pole

Date1900-1940

MediumHippopotamus ivory, bone, and ferrous metal

Dimensions11 1/4 × 2 3/8 × 3 in. (28.6 × 6 × 7.6 cm)

Donor credit lineKendall Whaling Museum Collection Transfer

Object number2001.100.1673

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionHalf-round-carved hippo tooth souvenir totem pole, featuring traditional stylized figures: a mythic figure with human face surmounting a frog, a raven, and a beaver; with a wooden plug inserted in the hollow of the root end, mounted on an indigenous base comprised of two rectagular slabs of skeletal bone fastened together with two bone dowel pins, the ensemble fastened to the wooden base plug with a threaded ferrous-metal screw. Souvenir totem poles like these were hand-carved by Native and non-Native artisans (including Chinese and Japanese immigrants), mostly in Seattle, Washington, usually carved out of wood, bone, or (the best ones) walrus ivory. This one is a replica of an actual Kwakiutl pole from Southeast Alaska, and is highly unusual in being a hippopotamus tooth.Label TextMaker once known, totem pole (copy after Tlingit Kiks.ádi totem pole), 1900-1940. Hippopotamus ivory, bone, and ferrous metal, 11 1/4 x 2 3/8 x 3 in., New Bedford Whaling Museum, 2001.100.1673.ProvenanceEx Rider Collection

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