Edward S. Curtis "Crests of a Nimkish Family" Original Photogravure, 1914

Details

Description

An original photogravure from Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian. Crests of a Nimkish Family shows a large clapboard … Read more An original photogravure from Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian. Crests of a Nimkish Family shows a large clapboard house with a carved crest pole standing before its door, the pole topped by a figure ringed with rays. A tall striped flagpole rises beside it, steps lead down to the beach, and logs and a dugout canoe lie on the gravel in front, with dark evergreens behind. On the Northwest Coast, crests are the inherited figures a family has the right to display. The Nimkish, today the 'Namgis, are a Kwakwaka'wakw people whose home is at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, off northern Vancouver Island. Curtis made the photograph in 1914, and it was published in 1915 in Volume 10, which covers the Kwakiutl, today called the Kwakwaka'wakw.

From Volume 10, facing page 138. Printed on Holland Van Gelder, one of the three papers used for the original subscriber sets. Titled in the plate lower left (CRESTS OF A NIMKISH FAMILY*), with "From Copyright Photograph 1914 by E.S. Curtis" in the plate below the image.

Image: 7 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches. Sheet: 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.

Provenance: the Christopher G. Cardozo Collection. The collection's inventory number is written in pencil on the verso.

A vintage impression from the original publication, not a later restrike. Sold unframed, ready to mat and frame. See less