Featured Inuit? soapstone carvings

No signature, no date. Thrift store purchases.

Hunter seated in a kayak, a seal lying atop, the hunter’s harpoon strapped secure. Kayak, hunter, and seal are each separately carved, and all held in place with gum. The harpoon has a wood shaft with a bone point and is secured by a leather strap. The stone is very dark gray and quite dense. The hunter was apparently holding a wooden oar, but that's gone missing. The kayak measures 11” long and is 2” across.

 

This walrus/sea lion (?) carving is 5 ¼” long, about 1 ½” across and 2” tall.

 

both are very nice.....

@Mark London ....... older, perhaps.....60's....
usually though , one finds the boat without the hunter,,,,or vise versa !!!

 

Nice find!!!

 

I LOVE both pieces!!!!!

 

the critter with the quizzical look on his face....he's a seal...

 

I got these things together, and it was the scale of that thing that made me think walrus, but I think you're right, and it's simply coincidental that they were together.

There was a third piece - a figural group - that someone else got. They were holding it and dithering, and I was soooo hoping they would put it down, but it was not to be. It haunts me.

 

Don't let it......unless it was a Joe Boat.....

I've seen hundreds of those seals in the same pose...but this one....from the pics alone....looks older to me.

The boat is questionable....older ones likely had ivory harpoons.....
but that's not.........' written in stone" !!

 

Great find, I love them.
They may not have been a set, the big seal looks like it is a separate piece.

 

Definitely not a set. They both likely date from the mid to late 1960's. IMHO, the seal is the better of the two in terms of quality of execution. The kayak seems to be missing a few pieces as most kayak scenes of the period were usually well kitted out.

 

I agree.....but I'm giving the kayak higher marks.
I like that the hunter is nicely and fully formed.
A lot of these only had the hunter carved to the waist.
The boat is drawn out...nice proportion...sleek.....& still has slender tips on both ends........often they are chipped or cracked on older works.
The attention to detail and extra work shows well.

As for the seal.....it gets my seal of approval.....

 

again, IMHO, the kayaker is rather out of proportion to his kayak and does not have the level of execution one would expect of a good 50's or 60's vintage piece. Here is a 50's vintage ivory for comparison.

 

Yes.....the boat looks too big.....& the hunter is unrefined.....
but you have higher standards than I do !..........

 

I'll concur with what everyone else says. Very nice for thrift store finds.

 

I love soapstone, those are awesome. picked up a couple african, plates at my local thrift. I dont think they are worth much but they should be, the workmanship is impressive.