While talking with the owner of the Haa Shagoon Gallery in downtown Juneau, in the middle of the conversation I suddenly turned around. I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for; just pure instinct led my eyes to this sculpture that totally caught my fancy. Why? I’m not sure, but as soon as I saw this figure I felt so compelled that it had to go home with a local, not a tourist, that I immediately called Amos’ grand-daughter and my friend, Donna Beaver Pizzarelli. With no answer and worried that a tourist would buy the sculpture, I snatched up this 8″ tall mold of a carving by Amos Wallace made in 1964 and I have it placed in a prestigious location: next to my weaving loom. This figure watches over me as I work. It’s great to have the company!
This small sculpture is a cast made of a plaster-like compound that gives it the appearance of wood or a stone called argillite. Manufactured by a company called Griffin’s Alaska based in Edmonds, Washington State between the years of 1964-67, they had a complete line of bowls and totems which are frequently mistaken for stone. Even the weight of this little guy feels like stone.
Amos Wallace was one of less than a handful of local Tlingit carvers here in Juneau, Alaska in the 1940’s until a few years before his passing in 2004. I grew up in the Russian Orthodox Church where he and his wife, Dorothy Wallace sang in the choir. It wasn’t until recently I discovered from his son Brian that Amos was of the Raven Moiety, T’akdeintaan Clan of Hoonah, which is also my clan! A gentle, soft-spoken man, his name was Jeet Yaaw Dustaa. Born in 1920, his older brother Lincoln Wallace, was also a carver.
Read the Juneau Empire article about Sealaska Heritage Institute receiving a collection of Amos’ drawings for their archives donated by Amos’ son, Brian Wallace at: http://juneauempire.com/art/2012-07-12/amos-wallace-collection-donated-walter-soboleff-center
I have one of these but it doesn’t have the copyright symbol can you teull me more it has a few chips on the bottom edge and there is what looks like carved area to the left bird eye can you tell me any more
I purchased one of these at the Salvation Army about 10 years ago, for $8.50. I almost had a heart attack when I first saw it as I hopped I knew what it was. It was very heavey and cold to the touch like argillate but it was a casting. There is a copywrite mark and Amos Wallace on the base edge.
I have it on my mantle beside a very large oil painting of a Bald Eagle soaring above the clouds and snow caped high peaks. I LOVE HIM.
Found the same Grand Prize statue w a face on two sides. _____? Pine Alaska along bottom Above that Amos Wallace’s name. $5..! Seems powerful… To Be Respected “E”nergies. Wah Nee She… La Nape… And kINdness to Be Given.
I too found this wonderful cast statue at a shop in Juneau just this past weekend.
Amos Wallace was the grand-father of my best friend from high school in Seattle, WA, and she often told stories about his totem carvings. My friend passed away in 1998 and when I learned that I would be visiting Juneau I made a point of searching for something to connect me to her heritage. When I found the statue by her grand-father and saw that the year was our birth year of 1964, I truly felt a connection to my friend through the statue.
I will always treasure “Watching Over Me” for just that reason.
Good save. Amos was my neighbor for several years back I the ’80s. A truly talented and humble man.