Double animal figure - Lot 6

Double animal figure British Columbia, Canada Carved and painted wood L. 35 cm Touching zoomorphic figure featuring a double animal head emerging from a single body. Note the fluidity of the forms and the dynamism of the sculpture. The iconography of carved figures in the region generally refers to shamanic spirit helpers. As artist Bill Reid writes (Form and Freedom: A Dialogue on Northwest Coast Indian Art, 1975), "what is shown in the decorative motifs and sculptures is not the different stages of transformation of beings, but the propensity of every being (human or animal) to embody its own metamorphoses". Condition report: Lower animal beak tip broken ditto lower leg/fins broken A few woodworm holes