Shaman Figure
- Artist
- Simeon Stilthda, Haida, c.1800–1889
- Date
- c.1880
- Material
- Wood and pigment
- Classification
- Sculpture, wood
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 326
- Dimensions
- 22 x 9 x 7 1/2 in. (55.9 x 22.9 x 19.1 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 132:1976
NOTES
Simeon Stilthda sensitively portrayed a skeletal figure with skin sunken tautly over its ribs and mouth. Long hair tied in a topknot helps identify the subject as a shaman, a religious specialist who communicates with animating forces beyond the visible world. The reclining pose demonstrates how shamans’ bodies appeared in wooden grave houses in coastal northern British Columbia.
The artist created this and other strikingly naturalistic sculptures depicting religious themes. Stilthda worked during an era when Christian missionaries arrived in the region and began to discourage shamanic practice.
Provenance
-1940
Boleslaw (1891–1965) and Mary Swoboda (1893–1981), Portland, OR, USA [1]
- 1976
Paul Kalicki, Madison, IL, by inheritance [2]
1976 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Paul Kalicki [3]
Notes:
[1] In a letter dated February 15, 1977, to Elizabeth Carmichael at the British Museum in London, Saint Louis Art Museum curator Lee Parsons notes that a local man's grandmother acquired the shaman figure in Oregon. Per the notes from a phone conversation on October 17, 2017, Paul Kalicki described the provenance to Saint Louis Art Museum assistant curator Alex Marr. Paul’s grandfather, Bill (Boleslaw) Swoboda, ran a grocery store in the Northwest U.S. and acquired the sculpture as collateral for a cash loan to a local prospector who had traveled frequently north to British Columbia. By 1940, the Swoboda family moved from Portland, OR, to East Saint Louis, IL. The Swoboda family residence in Portland, OR, is confirmed in the obituary of Leona Swoboda, daughter of Boleslaw and Mary [SLAM document files].
[2] Probably in the late 1960s, Bill and Mary Swoboda gave the figure to their daughter, Leona (1925–2009). Leona was Paul Kalicki’s mother, and she gave the sculpture to Paul around 1974. See notes of phone conversation with Alex Marr [SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 16, 1976.
Boleslaw (1891–1965) and Mary Swoboda (1893–1981), Portland, OR, USA [1]
- 1976
Paul Kalicki, Madison, IL, by inheritance [2]
1976 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Paul Kalicki [3]
Notes:
[1] In a letter dated February 15, 1977, to Elizabeth Carmichael at the British Museum in London, Saint Louis Art Museum curator Lee Parsons notes that a local man's grandmother acquired the shaman figure in Oregon. Per the notes from a phone conversation on October 17, 2017, Paul Kalicki described the provenance to Saint Louis Art Museum assistant curator Alex Marr. Paul’s grandfather, Bill (Boleslaw) Swoboda, ran a grocery store in the Northwest U.S. and acquired the sculpture as collateral for a cash loan to a local prospector who had traveled frequently north to British Columbia. By 1940, the Swoboda family moved from Portland, OR, to East Saint Louis, IL. The Swoboda family residence in Portland, OR, is confirmed in the obituary of Leona Swoboda, daughter of Boleslaw and Mary [SLAM document files].
[2] Probably in the late 1960s, Bill and Mary Swoboda gave the figure to their daughter, Leona (1925–2009). Leona was Paul Kalicki’s mother, and she gave the sculpture to Paul around 1974. See notes of phone conversation with Alex Marr [SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, December 16, 1976.