Featured Can someone validate these for me?

Are they real? Were they really made by Native Americans? Can they be dated? My gparents got them on one of their trips to Alaska from the 50s to the early 70s I believe. They are 2-1/4 inches high and weigh around 7 grams each. The one with missing wings has a different base. None are marked. Thank you for looking.

 

Yup...classic Alaskan souvenir totems , made from bone or ivory.
You dating is good , but these were made earlier , and later...
@all_fakes
@2manybooks

 

They were also made in and for Canada....and could be found up and down the Pacific Northwest.

 

they were and are also made of wood , metal, and plastic...

 

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Yep. Alaska souvenirs, likely bone or ivory, but possibly plastic; and 1950-1970 would be reasonable - hard to say, because similar have been sold for many years. Could be native-made, but I think non-native would be more likely. I suspect some were imported from China or Taiwan even that early.

 

I remember when I was a tyke in elementary school. a classroom had a little wooden totem pole sitting in a window, but if you looked in at it from the schoolyard, it had "Made in Japan" stamped on the back.

 

Thank you for your help and assurances on these totem poles. I’m almost positive they are carved from bone, they have pits all over and no Schreger lines. You guys are truly appreciated.

 

we had the bone, ivory...& Chinese carvers here already..... I've not come across what would be imports..??

 

In bone, I'd think quite unlikely to be imports at that time. But I think I've seen plastic "totem" trinkets more recently. But one could certainly make a nice collection of older bone totems from Alaska and Canada - and OP Cory has a start on such a collection already!

 

^& he seemed like a nice guy....at least here...

 

But not HERE.

Looks like Cory is banned now.

 

I can't remember the last time someone dissed Kronos..??
Me , on the other hand .....

 

I don't know if an item I read years ago is true or false but the author claimed the the large totems along the coast were not made until the Russian fur traders came. Iron axes were one of the trade items. Up to that time totems were small.















russian

 

The first recorded mention of a pole, which was a house pole, was on Langara Island in the Haida village of Dadans, c.1790, by John Bartlett, who wrote:

We went ashore where one of their winter houses stood. The entrance was cut out of a large tree and carved all the way up and down. The door was made like a man's head and the passage the house was between his teeth and was built before they knew the use of iron.

European explorers were said to have been astonished that “savages” were capable of architectural creations that rivalled those of celebrated artists in their home countries. The cedar poles and posts on Haida Gwaii that so impressed these explorers were carved with tools made from stone, shells, or beaver teeth. It wasn’t until trading relationships were established along the Pacific coast that iron and steel tools were introduced. The new tools enabled carvers to create more intricate and complex features and the creation of totem poles and posts flourished amongst West Coast communities.

 

I grab these anytime I find them cheap. They are fun little pieces. They also made them as letter openers, handles of pens/pencils, and other little trinkets. I usually find them at least partially broken. I just found the most detailed one to date recently. Broken again unfortunately but worth salvaging.

 

That is the nicest one I've seen so far. I would have bought it too.

 

Thanks. I might have to stick it in a little putty ball and give it a base. Otherwise it’ll just end up in a box. It came in a bag of button hooks, crochet hooks, and similar bits for $10ish at the end of a sale.

 

Alaskan style fer sure

 

https://lens.google.com/search?ep=g...2U4LWEwNWUtNDllZC05ZTRkLTMyMWM2ODQ2MTA5ZCJdXQ