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Interested in commissioning
a Chilkat or Ravenstail robe or weaving?
Interested in commissioning other Chilkat or Ravenstail
weavings, button robes, other Native dance regalia,
wall murals, paintings, prints, book cover images or
sculptures?
I will work with you on what you are interested
in and imagining for yourself (or someone else). I have
created replicas of past robes as well as original designs.
Keep in mind, I've also created new robe designs for
myself and other weavers.
* Click
Here if you are interested in gathering
information on the details of costs, timeframe, etc.
for commissioning a Chilkat robe or Ravenstail
robe.
* Contact Me
if you are interested in commissioning any
other Chilkat or Ravenstails weavings,
Button robes, other Northwest
Coast dance regalia, prints, , paintings, book cover
designs, wall murals, or sculptures.
The following essay (with photo) is my very
first commissioned Chilkat robe completed in May 2000
for a Chief in North Vancouver, B.C. It is a reproduction
of a robe in the Victoria (B.C.) Museum.
"Sea Grizzly" Chilkat robe
Handspun wool and cedar bark,
hand-dyed wool yarns
5 ft x 6 ft
Completed May 2000
Private Collection, North Vancouver, B.C.
Contact Clarissa for
permission to use text or images for educational purposes
only
After teaching Jennie's daughters and granddaughter,
I regained my confidence and began to create small
Chilkat weavings. But naturally, the goal
I was aiming for was to one day weave a full Chilkat
blanket, a project which I knew would take at
least a year to complete. Continued...
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photo byJeff Laydon |
In 1998, I received a commission that excited me. A
Native chief in Canada asked me to produce a copy of a famous
Chilkat blanket which had once belonged to his family, but
which now resided in a Canadian museum. This robe was
woven in the 1890s by Mrs. Jim Gotholas from Village Island
(B.C.) of the Mamallillikula tribe. The design was a combination
whale and grizzly bear. He said he could not repatriate the
robe because he did not have any photographic or written proof
that his clan had used the robe in ceremony and so "belonged
to them," so he commissioned me to create a duplicate.
The chief wanted a duplicate Chilkat robe for his potlatch
that he was planning: "I am setting the date of the potlatch
according to when you will finish the robe." He sent
me photographs and the exact measurement of the original robe.
I was nervous. I was not sure if I could do this robe. This
was my very first Chilkat robe. I had never woven anything
larger than a pair of leggings before, so what made me think
that I could do a whole robe!?
I thigh-spun 1000 yards of warp from merino wool with yellow
cedar bark. I purchased white and black 2/6 merino yarns
for the weft, and with my husband's help, dyed the yellow
and blue yarns matching Jennie's favorite shades of those
colors.
Between caring for my family, finishing many other
commissions, and moving from one town to another (twice!),
I finished the blanket in just over two years.
The blanket was first "danced" in the fall of 2000 during
the chief's family potlatch in western British Columbia.
Contact Clarissa
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