The speaker’s staff, or talking stick, is a carved wooden staff used during community gatherings to faciliate a respectful and structured form of communication wherein the opportunity to speak is reserved by the holder of the staff.

This is a fine early example, very smooth to the touch, depicting animal figures on the top and bottom, while in the middle the staff is flanked by fish and bird figures.

Bill McLennan dated this work to the early twentieth century.

For the biography on Gary Bell in PDF format, please click here.

To view the full catalogue for The Gary Bell Collection: Masterworks of Northwest Coast Art, please click here.