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Artworks
UNIDENTIFIED MAKER, PROBABLY KODIAK ALUTIIQ, SOUTHWEST ALASKA
Pair of Paddles , c. 1880each wood and paint, the first: 58.25 x 4 x 1.25 in (148 x 10.2 x 3.2 cm) / second: 57.5 x 4 x 1.25 in (146.1 x 10.2 x 3.2 cm).
unsigned.
LOT 99
ESTIMATE: $1,500 — $2,500
PRICE REALIZED: $1,440.00Canoe paddle design and decoration is quite varied along the Northwest Coast. We think that this lovely old pair of paddles was made further north however, in southwest Alaska. The...Canoe paddle design and decoration is quite varied along the Northwest Coast. We think that this lovely old pair of paddles was made further north however, in southwest Alaska. The overall shape of the paddles as well as their simple but striking abstract painted designs suggests a Kodiak Alutiiq origin. Similar designs can be found on examples of 19th century paddles and model canoes from the region (see references).References: For multiple examples of Kodiak Alutiiq paddles, many with abstract designs, see S.A. Korsun, The Alutiit / Sugpiat: A Catalogue of the Collections of the Kunstkamera (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2012), pp. 152-155; in the same publication see model kayaks with paddles, pp. 136-143. For a model angyaq boat with paddles see Aaron Crowell et al, editors, Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2001), fig. 145.
Provenance
Private Collection, California;
Private Collection, New York.
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