Denny is a member of the Eagle clan. He works primarily with argillite, carving poles, platters, boxes, pendants, and pins. As a self-taught artist, Denny was influenced by the late carver, Pat McGuire. His brother was established argillite carver, Pat Dixon. Internationally known, he has worked at the Montreal Museum, and has presented an argillite box to the Empress of Japan. This elegant sculpture measures 4.5\" x 2.75\" x .025\" and is dated 1977. It is signed as well.The Haida Nation is renowned for its beautiful \"black slate\" or argillite carvings. The Haida began carving argillite in response to the early curio trade of the 1820\'s, amongst British explorers and traders. Soon the artistic accomplishments of the Haida in the use of materials such as wood, horn and stone included this new medium. While argillite used to be known as a form of tourist art, it has grown to become one of the most sought after art forms in North American First Nations art. The argillite used by Haida carvers is a dark grey carbonaceous shale found at Slatechuck Creek on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia. Argillite is a relatively soft stone to carve, although it is difficult to obtain large pieces from the quarries. It is also a very fragile stone. The supply of argillite is not in any apparent danger of being exhausted, and only the Haida people can carve it by British Columbian law. Apart from small totem poles, the primary objects carved from argillite include plates with incised designs, pendants, pipes, small boxes and sculptural figures. Some carvers give their work a high polish with emery cloth or other materials which enhance the dark, rich qualities of the stone. Even today, argillite continues to be carved exclusively by Haida artists both on Haida Gwaii (their homeland) and in the Vancouver and Victoria areas.This piece represents the \'Ravens Stealing the Light\' myth:At the beginning of time, the whole world was dark. The reason for this blackness had to do with an old man in a house by one of the largest rivers on Earth, who had a box, which contained a box, which contained a box, which contained an infinite number of boxes, each nestled in a box slightly larger than itself until finally there was a box so small all it could contain was all the light in the universe. The old man hid the light because he was afraid to see whether or not his daughter was ugly. In a ploy to steal the light, Raven shrunk himself to become a hemlock needle in a basket of drinking water so that the daughter swallowed him. Soon, Raven was reborn from her as a raven/human child. The old man accepted him as a grandson, and soon Raven began begging that he open the boxes, one after another, each time pleading and crying until the old man succumbed. When the old man finally opened the box containing the light, Raven grabbed it and flew out of the house, causing light to spread throughout the world and revealing that the old man\'s daughter as beautiful - beautiful as the fronds of a hemlock tree. This legend represents creation and transition.\"argillite orca\", \"haida argillite\", \"jones yeltatzie\", \"lionel samuels\"

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