Though simple in form and function, this is a superbly crafted and truly lovely object. It does not have the look of a work made for “quick sale,” and was surely made by an extraordinarily gifted hand. This Whistle is very much in the spirit of works of art created by Inuit in response to the influx of sailors, whalers, and other foreign visitors in the Arctic in the 19th century. Inuit carved both traditional and European-style objects for the newcomers, sometimes as commissions, during the so-called “Historic Period” which extended through the first half of the 20th century.

References: See a somewhat later but comparable object: an ivory and hide Needle Case, in the form of a seal from 1953 by Peesee Osuitok of Cape Dorset in Virginia Watt et al., Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec: The Permanent Collection: Inuit Arts And Crafts c. 1900-1980, (Montreal: Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, 1980), cat. 221, p. 159.