Davidee Itulu is probably the greatest and certainly the most famous ivory scrimshaw artist in the history of Inuit art. Itulu began carving and engraving ivory around 1950, creating both sculptural and engraved works. For years he worked alongside his cousin the great Cape Dorset artist Sheokjuk Oqutaq, who periodically lived and carved in Kimmirut. Remarkably, Itulu practiced the art of scrimshaw until the last year of his life, still using his original set of carving and engraving tools. Scrimshaw is more a graphic than a sculptural art but fashioning this gorgeous cribbage board required consummate skill in both traditions.

References: For fine examples of Itulu’s scrimshaw art see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), fig. 71 (National Gallery Collection; Darlene Coward Wight, Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2012), cat. 32 (WAG Collection); Christine Lalonde and Natalie Ribkoff, ItuKiagâtta! Inuit Sculpture from the Collection of the TD Bank Financial Group, (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2005), cat. 20; and Walker’s Auctions, Nov. 2012, Lot 120; Toronto-Dominion Bank, The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, (Toronto: TD Bank, 1967, cat. 39. See also Maria von Finckenstein ed., Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1999), p. 127.