Haida Frontlet, British Columbia

Private Collection, Toulon

Michel Gaud Collection, Saint-Tropez

Galerie Monbrison, Paris

Michel Périnet (1930-2020) Collection, Paris, acquired in 1992

Christie's, Paris, Collection Michel Périnet, June 23, 2021, lot 30

Daniel Hourdé Collection, Paris, acquired from the above auction

By Alain de Monbrison

This ornament from British Columbia consists of a rectangular frontal plaque, slightly curved along its upper edge. This plaque bears a stylised anthropomorphic figure, with its face occupying the greater part of the surface.

This remarkable ceremonial headdress belongs to the great artistic tradition of the Haida peoples of the Northwest Coast, where art functions inseparably as a language of power, memory and prestige. Designed to be worn during potlatches, welcoming ceremonies or funerary rites, it forms part of a symbolic system where the performative object publicly demonstrates the rank and authority of its owner.

The composition is set around a frontal element carved in high relief, dominated by a large human face. The deliberate mismatch in scale between the head and the compact body gives the piece a distinctive presence. The face, rendered with stylised intensity, is identified as that of a woman of high rank, marked out as such by the labret that distends her lower lip, a symbol of Haida female nobility. This iconography reflects the importance of lineage and status within Haida society, where power tends to be passed down through the female line.

The skilful use of abalone inlays, framing the face and accentuating the eyes, teeth, labret, palms and soles of the feet, creates a sophisticated play of light. The iridescence of the shell, that shifts with the light and the motion of the wearer, is traditionally interpreted as the visible manifestation of a supernatural power. This effect is heightened by a codified polychromy: the deep red of the lips and body, combined with graphic black and white highlights defining the eyebrows and eyelids, lends the face both dramatic intensity and strong visual impact.

The headdress is completed by a crown of sea lion whiskers, laterally arranged woodpecker feathers, and a long train composed of ermine skins sewn onto a textile base, designed to cover the back and shoulders. This combination of rare and symbolically charged materials heightens the ceremonial nature of the object, while underscoring the wealth and prestige of the person who commissioned it.

Its stylised naturalism and near-portrait treatment of the face place this headdress within the stylistic evolution observed among the Haida in the late nineteenth century, a period during which certain master sculptors renewed traditional forms by introducing a greater degree of individualisation in human figures. It stands as an eloquent testament to the creative vitality of Haida art at a pivotal moment in its artistic history.

An object of power as much as a work of art, this headdress is a compelling embodiment of the role of Haidan artistic production - an aesthetic of magnificence in the service of memory, rank and transmission.