Ingmars Lindbergs
Director
Lot 13
A Haida carved argillite box, possibly the work of Zacharias Nicholas
18 June 2025, 12:00 PDT
Los AngelesUS$7,000 - US$10,000
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A Haida lidded argillite box
Possibly the work of Zacherias Nicholas (Master of the Chicago Settee), Haida, (19th/early 20th century), of rectangular form, finely worked on the lid and each gently convex face with formline wolves and whales, unsigned, minor repair.
height 4 1/2in, width 8 3/4in
height 4 1/2in, width 8 3/4in
Footnotes
Provenance
The Legacy Ltd., Gallery, Seattle, WA, acquired in March 1986, the box sold as "Attributed to John Cross or his school, circa 1880."
For a discussion of the artist and his work, see Wright, Robin K., "Zacherias and the Chicago Settee: Connecting the Masterpiece to the Master", American Indian Art Magazine, 2009, Volume 35, Issue 1, p. 68-75. As relayed to a family member, the attribution of the present lot to Zacherias Nicholas, also known as the Master of the Chicago Settee, was purportedly suggested in a conversation between the author and the owner during the author's visit to their home in Seattle approximately two decades ago. Based on the criteria detailed in the aforementioned article, the present lot may fulfill several of the characteristics associated with works attribute to Zacherias: "As described by Holm, the style of the Master of the Chicago Settee is characterized by broad angular formlines, very thin negative reliefs, complicated cheek designs, angular and sharply tapering U forms, and hands that have fingers attached to the concave side of the ovoid... Also characteristic of his style are U forms with ovoid reliefs in the ends and salmon trout-head inner ovoids that have the corner of the mouth curving back rather than forward, which is more common. In addition, he made asymmetrical eyelid lines with short points on the front and longer ones on the back." Wright, p. 69. While the present lot does not exhibit the technical complexity of an example in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History (catalog number E89002-0, accession number 013804, attributed to Zacherias Nicholas by Robin K. Wright in 2011), the present lot still exhibits characteristics associated with the artist, particularly in the eyes and the secondary salmon trout-heads.
