Haida image proves a hot seller on chocolate tin

Two years ago, Anne Hudec and her husband were showing German visitors around the Inner Harbour. In Thunderbird Park, in front of the Royal B.C. Museum she took a photo of a Haida pole.

“It was late in the day and I loved the way the light embellished the weathered wood,” the artist said of the pole, carved in 1955 by Mungo Martin, Henry Hunt and David Martin. She went back to her Oak Bay home and reproduced a portion of the pole in watercolour.

Today that image is breaking records for sales of Rogers’ Chocolates tins. After Hudec’s image was approved for inclusion in this year’s Rogers’ chocolate box line, the Victoria-based company ordered 3,500 tins, estimating that would last them two years. Two months later they scrambled to place an additional order for 2,500.

“We knew the tin would sell well, because of the strong West Coast symbolism. But we had no idea with tourism being down in Victoria, we would possibly be sold out before our biggest season,” said Rogers’ spokesperson Natasha Chen.

It’s been a serendipitous experience for Hudec, whose work is mostly of detailed renderings of European statuary. Painting the pole was a whim, she said, but one she feels honours the carver’s original intent.

“I don’t want to take away anything from another culture,” she said when asked about reproducing other artisans’ works. “But in a sense I feel that I’m promoting and interpreting something that is so beautiful.”

Royal B.C. Museum administrators gave Hudec permission to reproduce the totem and don’t mind Rogers’ windfall from using the image.

“The likeness of Anne Hudec’s painting to the Haida pole in Thunderbird Park is astonishing,” said Royal B.C. Museum spokesperson Theresa Mackay. “The Royal B.C. Museum pops up both nationally and internationally in some of the most unique circumstances and this example is certainly no exception.”

Rogers’ Chocolates featured the work of 11 local artists on their chocolate tins last year, selling more than 40,000 tins. That was up 25 per cent from the year before.

Hudec hasn’t exhibited her work in Victoria galleries. Formerly a loans and mortgage administrator, then a property manager, she turned to painting 10 years ago. But with the Rogers’ success, as well as U.S.-based Northlight Books choosing one of her images to grace a book on contemporary watercolours, her work may appear in local galleries sooner than later.

“Up until now my goal has been to perfect what I’m doing. I’m pleased that what I paint and how I paint appeals to others. It’s a sense of sharing something that’s positive and that other people can enjoy the beauty that I see in the world around us.”

vmoreau@saanichnews.com