Ray Moore "Princess Raven" Carved & Painted Cedar Panel — Alaska Native Art

A vertical relief-carved wall panel in the Northwest Coast formline tradition, depicting the Nisga'a legend of Princess Raven. The composition reads top to bottom along a single cedar plank: the Raven dominates the crown with curved beak, ovoid eye, and spread wings whose feather fields are worked in two registers — open fronds above, densely cross-hatched primaries below. The Princess occupies the center, rendered frontally with flowing black hair beneath a broad hat, a swaddled secondary face nestled against her chest. At the base, a coiled serpent form encircles a sun-face medallion with radiating cross arms in teal and red — the visual anchor for the moment Raven, transformed into a hemlock needle, is swallowed and gains the power to release the sun. A horizontal band of formline glyphs in red and teal over black closes the lower register.

Hand-carved from a single cedar plank with relief depth that pulls wings, figural forms, and feather fields forward from the ground plane. Painted in the traditional palette: cinnabar red, black, teal-green, and exposed natural wood tone. Signed in marker on the verso alongside a "Made in Alaska" silver-hand program sticker. A riveted leather strap on the back is ready for wall display. The work is accompanied by its original printed legend card titled "Princess Raven," which relates the story in full.

Ray Moore is an Inuit carver and artist based in Alaska, working in the Northwest Coast formline tradition. His relief panels and sculptural work engage the classic visual grammar of the Pacific Northwest — ovoid forms, split-U elements, primary and secondary design fields — while presenting narrative subjects drawn from Northwest Coast oral tradition. Moore's carved panels carry the Made in Alaska program designation, which certifies that the work was made in-state by an Alaskan resident. His work circulates primarily through regional galleries, gift markets, and direct sale rather than through the major auction house circuit, and signed examples with original legend documentation are less commonly encountered on the secondary market.

The accompanying card reads: "PRINCESS RAVEN, daughter of the Chief of the Nass River, who held the sun captive, was a very beautiful and powerful young lady. The Princess had been watched from the tree tops by Raven since birth. RAVEN, enamored by her beauty and power, fell in love with the Princess, but knew he could not gain her love. One day, at twilight, PRINCESS RAVEN knelt by the reflective pool, cupped her hands with water and brought it to her lips, instantaneously, RAVEN turned himself into a Hemlock needle and fell gently into her hands. She then swallowed the hemlock needle. At that, RAVEN became her child, gaining her love, affection and eventually her power to release the sun."

• Carved and painted cedar panel
• Original "Princess Raven" legend card
• "Made in Alaska" authenticity sticker (verso)
• Leather hanger strap, riveted (verso)

CONDITION

Good with no damage noted. Paint and carved surface intact throughout; leather hanger secure and riveted. Natural knot and grain character present in the cedar plank.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• 24" H × 4" W
• Materials: Hand-carved cedar, hand-painted
• Artist: Ray Moore
• Signed: Verso, in marker
• Origin: Alaska (Made in Alaska program sticker, verso)
• Hanger: Riveted leather strap, verso
• Includes: Printed "Princess Raven" legend card