Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

PICTOGRAPH CHANDELIER

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1950

Materials

PAPER, METAL, LEATHER

No. Pieces

1

Height

98.2

Diameter

55.0

Description

PICTOGRAPH CHANDELIER, HEXAGONAL STRUCTURE THAT TAPERS TOWARDS BOTTOM END. COMPRISED OF METAL ROD SKELETON LAYERED WITH PAPER PANELS, PANELS HELD TOGETHER AT EDGES WITH GREY FABRIC TAPE AND SOME STITCHING. EACH OF THE SIX PAPER SIDES HAS BEEN DECORATED WITH PICTURES IN RED, GREEN, YELLOW, AND BLACK PAINT. PICTOGRAPHS INCLUDE ANIMALS (HORSES, COWS, BUFFALO, PIGS, BIRDS), PEOPLE, TEPEES, SYMBOLS OF NATURE (TREES, MOUNTAINS, FIRE, SUNSETS), AND OTHER SYMBOLS, SUCH AS SWASTIKAS AND STARS. TOP OF STRUCTURE HAS "LID" WITH HOLE, PRESUMABLY FOR LIGHT FIXTURE. PAPER IS CRACKED AND TORN THROUGHOUT, RED, ORANGE, AND CLEAR SEALANT HAS BEEN USED TO COVER CRACKS. LARGE HOLE IN CENTER LEFT OF ONE PANEL WITH PIECE OF CARDBOARD TAPED ON. EYEHOOKS AND METAL LOOPS ALONG TOP EDGE ALLOW FOR LID OF STRUCTURE TO SECURE TO BODY AND FOR STRUCTURE TO HANG FROM CEILING . 8 STRIPS OF LEATHER HANGING FROM THREE EDGES, SOME PIECES OF LEATHER LIKELY MISSING.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

LIGHTING DEVICE

Historical Association

DECORATIVE ARTS

ETHNOGRAPHIC

FURNISHINGS

FINE ARTS

History

DONOR LYNN UIBEL SOLD THE PICTOGRAPH CHANDELIER TO THE GALT MUSEUM IN 2008. LYNN ACQUIRED THE CHANDELIER FROM P. WHETIK WHILE HE WAS WORKING AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL IN WATERTON IN THE 1950S. LYNN PASSED AWAY IN 2009. THE CHANDELIER WAS HUNG APPROXIMATELY 25 FEET HIGH, FROM A WIRE IN A VAULTED SECTION OF A CEILING. LYNN NEVER HAD THE ITEM CLEANED OR HAD ANY OF THE RIPS AND TEARS IN THE CHANDELIER FIXED, AS HE WAS AWARE OF ITS FRAGILITY AND DID NOT WANT TO RISK FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE ITEM. WHEN LYNN ACQUIRED THE ITEM, ONE OF THE PANELS WAS RIPPED. ROLAND RECALLED THAT WHEN LYNN TRIED TO HANG THE CHANDELIER, ANOTHER PANEL WAS DAMAGED. DURING THE 1950S, WHEN THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL WAS BEING RENOVATED, APPROXIMATELY 50 CHANDELIERS WERE BEING PACKED UP AND DISCARDED. LYNN THEN ACQUIRED A CHANDELIER ON THE BASIS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE DISCARDED. ACCORDING TO LYNN'S PARTNER, ROLAND BOYD, LYNN HAS STRONG CONNECTIONS TO THE HOTEL, HIS BROTHERS WORKED THERE AT SOME POINT, AND HE WAS BORN AND RAISED IN MOUNTAINVIEW, WHICH IS NOT FAR FROM THE HOTEL. ADDITIONALLY, HIS WORK AT THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL ENABLED HIM TO PAY FOR HIS UNIVERSITY EDUCATION. WHILE LYNN HAD NO NATIVE AMERICAN ANCESTRY, HE HELD A DEEP FASCINATION WITH NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURE, ESPECIALLY THAT OF SOUTHWEST AND PLAINS TRIBES. ROLAND RECALLED THAT ABOUT 90% OF THE ART IN THE HOME HE SHARED WITH LYNN WAS NATIVE AMERICAN. AS PART OF A UNIVERSITY THESIS, LYNN WROTE EXTENSIVELY ON AMERICAN PLAINS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND THEIR CULTURE. LYNN NEVER LEARNED WHAT THE PICTOGRAPHS MEANT, OR WHO THE ARTIST WAS, OTHER THAN SOMEONE BELONGING TO THE BLACKFOOT CULTURE. IN AN E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE IN AUGUST 2009, JAMES DEMPSEY SUGGESTED THAT THE PICTOGRAPH CHANDELIER WAS CREATED AFTER THE PICTOGRAPH FRIEZES AND PANELS. THE IMAGES APPEARING ON THE CHANDELIER ARE LIKELY TAKEN FROM THE FRIEZES AND PANELS, RATHER THAN TELLING THEIR OWN STORY OF A WAR OR HUNTING EXPLOIT. DEMPSEY WAS UNSURE OF WHO THE ARTIST(S) COULD HAVE BEEN. IN AN E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH GERRY CONATY, DIRECTOR / CURATOR OF THE GLENBOW MUSEUM, IN SEPT 2009, GERRY WAS ALSO UNSURE AS TO WHO THE ARTIST COULD HAVE BEEN. NEITHER JAMES NOR GERRY HAD COME ACROSS A PICTOGRAPH CHANDELIER SUCH AS THIS BEFORE. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM, “BLACKFOOT WAR ART: PICTOGRAPHS OF THE RESERVATION PERIOD, 1880-2000,” BY L. JAMES DEMPSEY, PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 2007. PICTOGRAPHS WERE COMMONLY USED BY BLACKFOOT (NATIONS) INDIANS FROM THE 1880'S AND THROUGHOUT THE 20TH CENTURY AS A MEANS OF RECORDING AND EXTOLLING WAR AND HUNTING EXPLOITS, EITHER OF INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS. WAR EXPLOITS WERE HIGHLY RESPECTED AND REGARDED WITH MUCH PRESTIGE WITHIN BLACKFOOT CULTURE. BLACKFOOT ELDERS SPENT MUCH TIME DURING THE LONG AND DARK WINTER MONTHS RECOUNTING WAR AND HUNTING STORIES. HUNTING SCENES, HORSE RAIDS, THE STEALING OF WEAPONS AND OTHER GOODS, SUCH AS MEDICINE BUNDLES OR PIPES, AS WELL AS THE KILLING OF ENEMIES AND EXTRACTING REVENGE WERE ALL EVENTS THAT WERE REPRESENTED IN PICTOGRAPHS. PICTOGRAPHS WERE OFTEN DRAWN ONTO VARIOUS SURFACES, SUCH AS ANIMAL HIDES, PAPER, BLACKFOOT SHIRTS, TEPEES, ROCKS, EVEN HORSES. IMAGES WERE PAINTED, DRAWN, SCRATCHED OR BURNED ONTO THE MATERIAL. PIGMENT WAS OFTEN APPLIED USING A PENCIL-SIZED STICK. VARIOUS MATERIALS WERE USED, SUCH AS CRAYONS, INK, NATURAL PIGMENTS FROM 1913 TO 1930, PICTOGRAPHS CREATED BY BLACKFOOT ARTISTS WERE UTILIZED BY THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAYS AS A WAY TO PROMOTE "WESTERN" THEMES AND TOURISM IN THE MANY HOTELS IN ALBERTA AND MONTANA. COME THE 1920S, GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY EXPANDED INTO CANADA, BUILDING THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL IN WATERTON NATIONAL PARKS. IN 1926, THE MISSIONARY CANON S. H. MIDDLETON SOUGHT BLACKFOOT PEOPLES WILLING TO RECOUNT WAR AND HUNTING EXPLOITS AND RECORD THESE STORIES USING PICTOGRAPHS. AS A RESULT, MANY PICTOGRAPH FRIEZES AND PANELS ADORNED THE WALLS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL. IN HIS BOOK, DEMPSEY MENTIONS HOTELS BEING FURNISHED WITH LAMPSHADES THAT WERE ADORNED WITH PICTOGRAPHS (PG 274-78). FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING SOME PHOTOGRAPHS, SEE PAGES 114-127 IN, “GLACIER’S HISTORIC HOTELS AND CHALETS: VIEW WITH A ROOM,” BY RAY DJUFF AND CHRIS MORRISON, PUBLISHED BY FARCOUNTRY PRESS IN 2001. ALSO SEE PERMANENT RECORD WHICH INCLUDES A POSTCARD IMAGE FEATURING THE FIXTURE(S).

Catalogue Number

P20090004000

Acquisition Date

2008-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail