Yet another Inuit (?) seal carving . . .

Discussion in 'Tribal Art' started by Messilane, Jun 27, 2014.

  1. terry5732

    terry5732 Well-Known Member

  2. Mark London

    Mark London Well-Known Member

    Terry, have you ever seen an Inuit sculpture of an otter? They look nothing like the OP's bird. I guess sometimes subject is in the eye of the beholder.
     
    spirit-of-shiloh and komokwa like this.
  3. terry5732

    terry5732 Well-Known Member

    There are no sea otters in Inuit territory

    So they must be experts
     
  4. Mark London

    Mark London Well-Known Member

    There are lots of river otters and the subject is relatively common for sculptors from Nunavik, so yeah, they must be experts.
     
    komokwa likes this.
  5. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    It could be a bird.....it could be a seal......it could be some creature....
    but it's no otter.....!!!
     
  6. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

    After having give this complex and controversial subject my full attention, I have at length reached the inescapable conclusion that it can be no otter than Fred.
     
    Bakersgma, Messilane and Vern like this.
  7. Vern

    Vern Active Member

    I'm going Otter.

    What is it made of? Looks like fossilized bone to me, but my eyes are getting old.

    I see Natives working on pieces like this all summer. The same carvers. They'll sit in the grass in the summer and work these with files and sandpaper all day long, which is all night too in Alaska.

    The most valuable would of course be the ivory and fossilized mammoth tusk ones. This was likely done by an Aleut Native or Athabascan. I'm sticking aleut from a place like King Salmon or Dutch Harbor. Exactly who or when gets a little more complicated.
     
  8. Messilane

    Messilane Well-Known Member

    This little critter is made of some sort of stone - I used to know what kind, but it escapes me now.
     
  9. Vern

    Vern Active Member

    By the way, it is the eyes and the arms resting on the stomach during a swim that gives this away as an otter. Cute little buggers, they are.
     
    yourturntoloveit likes this.
  10. Messilane

    Messilane Well-Known Member

    Except . . . it's "arms" are not resting on it's belly.
    I will see if I can get a photo of how it's arms/wings/flippers are placed.
     
  11. Vern

    Vern Active Member

    I would venture to guess that it is fossilized bone which is, in effect, a stone. But I could be wrong. These days you see most being carved out of fresh ivory and bone, but back in the day fossilized pieces were more common. I suppose maybe the fossilized material is more scarce.

    Very rarely you will see Natives carving stone here. It is usually jade or soapstone.
     
  12. Messilane

    Messilane Well-Known Member

    Nope. Still certain it is stone.

    Here are the photos of it's appendages . . .

    The front ones first, and then the back ones.

    DSCN9162.JPG

    DSCN9164.JPG
     
  13. Vern

    Vern Active Member

    Well, from the side it is a bird and from the top an otter. This carver may have been a drinker. I like it. That is really kind of rare from what I've seen here, being stone. I think if that is the case, then identifying the type of stone may bring you very close to the artist or artist's family. Most stones are significantly harder to work than baleen, ivory, or bone which is what most of these type figurines are made of.
     
  14. Messilane

    Messilane Well-Known Member

  15. Vern

    Vern Active Member

    That one is a sea lion.
    It looks almost like a deep colored jade. Again, my eyes. I may need glasses these days… I would guess the 73 indicates the year it was made.

    Actually, it may just be me, but I see jade with a tiny gold vein in the neck photo of the sea lion. Jade is extremely common here along the coast where you find sea lions, otters, and puffins.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2014
  16. Vern

    Vern Active Member

    And I'm going to stick with otter from the top and puffin from the side.
     
  17. Mark London

    Mark London Well-Known Member

    The piece hails from Northern Canada not Alaska. The sticker, if I am not mistaken, indicates that the piece was originally purchased by the Northwest Company (formerly the Hudson's Bay Company). There are 4 major wholesalers/distributors of Canadian Inuit art, each using their own sticker and numbering system. Depending on community of origin, the stone is either steatite or serpentinite.
     
    cxgirl and komokwa like this.
  18. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    It's a bird....resting on the ground.
    Possibly a Ptarmigan.
    I like Steatite as the stone.
     
  19. Messilane

    Messilane Well-Known Member

    I could also go with steatite.
     
  20. terry5732

    terry5732 Well-Known Member

    Really children

    What bird has a nose, mouth and eye corners?
     
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