Makah Maternity Figure, Northwest Coast

seated on attenuated splayed legs pressed back to her thighs, wearing a cedar bark skirt, her diminutive curving arms cut away from the torso with small hands clutching a classic carved wood cradle containing her child nursing at her left breast, the powerfully sculpted head with pronounced angular jaw line, small metal rings in the hollowed oval ears, small white shells inset to the close-set eye frames, overlaid by dark resin pupils, arching brows, and coiffure parted down the center and bound in two long, thick carved plaits joined at the back, decorated with black pigment on the upper body, cradle, cradle binding, eyebrows, ears and coiffure, and red vermillion in a small circle on the cradle, her back, as two columns of tiny dots on the smooth cheeks, and on the part, wearing an addtional cloak of  long cedar bark strands and strips of red cloth, the baby's eyes inset with tiny white glass beads; attributed to Frank Allabush.

Smits Collection (Dr. Smits administered to the Makah and had a significant collection of Makah material)
Vanderhowen Collection
Wellman Collection
Sotheby's New York, June 4, 1997, lot 203, consigned by the above
Myron Kunin, Minneapolis, acquired at the above auction

The Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, The Box of Daylight, Northwest Coast Indian Art, September 15, 1983 - January 4, 1984
The Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, A Time of Gathering, Native Heritage in Washington State, April 1 - October 1, 1989

Bill Holm et al., The Box of Daylight, Northwest Coast Indian Art, Seattle, 1983, p. 116, fig. 198
Robin K. Wright, ed., A Time of Gathering, Native Heritage in Washington State, Seattle, 1991, p. 124, color pl. 124

The doll is in very good original condition with typical wear for its age including minor surface abrasion. There is small hairline crack in the lower section of the plaited section of the coiffure. The cedar bark skirt and cape are fragile with some wear and minor soiling.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In a discussion of the present example Mr. Holm writes: "When Captain Cook's ships left Nootka Sound in 1778 there were on board, among the masks, blankets, and weapons collected from Native inhabitants, small figures of mothers and children - at least one of them represented in its cradle. A century and a quarter later, Westcoast carvers were still making similar figures for sale to tourists and collectors." Of this figure, Ms. Wright wrote: "Dolls of mothers holding babies were owned and enjoyed by the Makah children, and were also made for sale to outsiders...Allabush, ?e-labus, a well-known Makah carver, produced these two (referrring to the present example and another in the Field Museum of Natural  History, 19371). Allabush was photographed in Neah Bay in the 1890's with several carvings in progress (including the present example as seen in Fig. 1. At least five Allabush dolls reside in museums and private collections."