each stone, the first: .5 x 1.5. x 1.5 in (1.3 x 3.8 x 3.8 cm) / the second: .5 x 1.75 x 1.5 in (1.3 x 4.4 x 3.8 cm)
each unsigned.

LOT 22
ESTIMATE: $150 — $250

This pair of cleverly incised buttons, which date to the mid-1970s, though they may be more decorative than for practical use, harken back to the tradition of decorated functional objects made for trade that is intrinsically tied with the beginnings of Inuit art. Following the publication of James Houston's 1951 instructional publication “Sanajasak: Eskimo Handicrafts,” there was a swell of functional craft items such as match holders, ashtrays and other goods made for purchase by the qallunaaq.