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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
This is a rare sepia vignette portrait of Sitka leader Augustus Bean (Tlingit Names: Keitxút'ch, K'alyaan Éesh) and his wife dressed for a Potlatch. A Chilkat blanket hangs behind them. This is a very early RPPC, dated from 1904 by the Sitka Historical Society, and comes from the Golden Age of postcards. The postcard size is 3-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches.
ABOUT AUGUSTUS BEAN - Augustus Bean (1850-1926) was a student of the Presbyterian mission school (Sheldon Jackson School). He became a prominent Tlingit carver and high-ranking member of the Kaagwaantaan (Wolf/Eagle moiety) clan in Sitka, Alaska, specifically associated with the Gooch Hít (Wolf House). He was known for creating detailed heavily inlaid figural feast dishes, often in collaboration with his brother-in-law, Rudolph Walton (1867-1951), including Land Otter Man bowls and Devilfish bowls, often using bone, abalone, and white glass bead inlays.
Augustus Bean was one of the organizers and hosts, along with several others, of the notable event known as the “Last Potlatch” held in 1904 in Sitka. At the time, Alaska Governor Brady decided to endorse this one “last Potlatch” at Sitka where Tlingit people from across southeast Alaska could gather and discuss their future. The “Last Potlatch” was held on December 23, 1904, at Woosh-Kee-Nah, the host house in Sitka. It lasted four weeks, consisting of consecutive days of alternating feasts and dancing. The Kaagwaantaan clan hosts honored their guests with great quantities of food. According to the Daily Alaskan (Dec. 29, 1904),“Every morning and afternoon there is a great feast and only one article is served …. At the feasts the man or woman who can eat the most is regarded as the special hero of the occasion and he receives an extra allowance of the good things it is within the power of the hosts to bestow.” He passed away in Sitka on December 11, 1926.
This is a rarely seen early collectible for the Sitka and Alaskan vintage photo and postcard enthusiast and historian.
SHIPPING
Available ONLY in the USA. Shipped FLAT via Ground U.S. Postal Service, with tracking.
RETURN POLICY & PAYMENT
No returns. The successful buyer will be contacted via the invoice system.
