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Artworks
UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, POSSIBLY INUPIAQ, WESTERN ALASKA
Carved and Engraved Panel, c. 1860s-1880sivory and black ink, 1.125 x 7 x 0.625 in (2.9 x 17.8 x 1.6 cm)
unsigned.
LOT 56
ESTIMATE: $6,000 — $9,000
PRICE REALIZED: $7,200.00Further images
To say that this work has a lot going on would be to understate the fine, delicate details of the etching and carving. Scenes of dog sledding and hunting caribou...To say that this work has a lot going on would be to understate the fine, delicate details of the etching and carving. Scenes of dog sledding and hunting caribou and walrus are punctuated with groups of dancers and people walking the land. The three complex pictorial narratives, arranged along both sides and even the bottom, are reminiscent of the finest engraved drill bows, bag handles, and hunting tallies. The panel is topped with a veritable parade of tiny animals: dogs, bears, and a lone seal on one side, and a phalanx of walruses standing guard on the other. The closest comparable objects we have seen are decorated ivory pipes that date from somewhat later in the 19th century. One can imagine the time taken to carve this delightful work, carefully etching the many lines of narrative and decorating the animals to their finest.
References: For related examples of scenes in ivory, see William Fitzhugh and Susan Kaplan, Inua: Spirit World of the Bering Sea Eskimo, (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982), pp. 255-267. See also Dorothy Jean Ray, Eskimo Art: Tradition and Innovation in North Alaska, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977), pp. 214-227.Provenance
Private collection, Boston, MA;
A New York Collection.