The Move Downstairs at The Benaki Museum

A new base has been designed for the Totem Pole, and the paint/consolidation work is all dry.  This means that the Totem Pole is ready to be moved to the ground floor of the Benaki museum for display, standing upright, as it was meant to be seen.  Once again our expert team of movers wraps up the Chiefs Crest Pole preparing it for the move.

As with moving it upstairs, everything is done slowly and carefully.

Once in the area when it will be displayed, the Totem Pole is carefully positioned and lifted to its resting place.  This was the moment that everybody was nervous and where the movers worked extra carefully.

But everything went off without a hitch, and after a few adjustments to be sure that the Totem Pole was placed in the best possible spot, the protective wrapper was removed.

Now the Chief's Crest Pole awaits its grand showing, this Thursday when the Benaki museum open's its doors.  If you'd like to come visit the Totem Pole, this Thursday, or any day, it will remain on display for a while.  You can click here for more information about the museum and its hours.

Consolidation, Visitors, and a Whales Head

While it looks like Andrew is simply painting the Totem Pole in this photos, there's a lot more going on.  Andrew is using something called a consolidant to repair the old paint as well.  The product does have pigment mixed in, but it's much more than that.  Consolidant protects the original paint on the Totem Pole by helping it bond to the wood and adding a layer of protection on top.  This technique allows the spaces where the paint is too damaged and had to be removed to be filled in with colour, as well as protects the original paint that remains.

If you haven't had time to visit Andrew at the Benaki museum, you might want to make arrangements soon.  He's only here till the end of the month (Here's some more information about visiting the Totem Pole).  Already hundreds of people have stopped by to say hello to Andrew and the Chief's Crest Pole.  Hopefully a few people have left with a better understanding of Canadian culture and history as well.

Some people have commented that the base of the Totem Pole seems like it's in really rough shape.  As you can see, Andrew has been doing some serious work here.  It's probably the most challenging part of the repair, with a great deal of detail missing on this side.

Fortunately the other side of the Totem Pole seems to be in better condition, and this gives Andrew many clues as to how the other side should look.  Andrew has even sketched the details from this side of the Totem Pole to help him work out how to fix the other side.

This Saturday (October 27th) the Benaki museum is putting on an educational program all about the Totem Pole:


Totem: a gift of friendship
Two unique visitors from the other side of the world are eager to reveal their secrets!
How will you reciprocate this gift?

If you want to be a part of this wonderful program click here.

The Metal Base

As you can see from this photo, the Chief's Crest Pole has a bit of support in the back to help keep it standing.

The metal base consists of two small spikes in the back of the pole covered in some kind of plaster and attached to a tower in the back.

There is also a large metal base designed to keep the Chief's Crest Pole off of the ground and away from excess moisture.

I managed to find several sketches of this structure in the Embassy of Canada's archives.

It appears that there are the two spikes in the back, and one larger one in the base.  While this base provided much need support while it was up in the garden, it's now creating a bit of a problem in restoration. To repair the Pole properly it must be lying down, this creates a great deal of stress on the two bolts in the back, and made it much more difficult to rest on the work benches.  This base may also create problems when the Pole has to be moved later on.  There are several ideas about what can be done, and how this will affect the future of the Chief's Crest Pole.