Anyone familiar with the Inuktitut alphabet?

I have a small, carved, seal or sea lion, and I can not make head nor tail of the signature.
I don't even know if I am looking in the right direction.
The only thing I can read is a number 5-328(3?)73

 

Egads! I didn't realize how bad the photo of the signature was!
I will retake them.

 

I dunno about Alaskan Inuit, but in the 1950s/60s, Canadian Inuit (then known as Eskimos) were given numbers as a sort of artist registry. Selling Inuit art (like your cute little seal) was given some help by the Canadian government to help Inuit maximize profit. The little symbols are actually the artist's Inuit name. There might be a site somewhere about the numbers and who the artist is and when they sold stuff. Maybe Bob (moreotherstuff) knows more.

 

I'm sure the the symbols are the name, and I have tried to translate them, but I can't make any headway with them.
I have a number of sites bookmarked, but if one doesn't even know which way they are orientated, it's hard to do.

 

Did you see this one?
http://www.inuitplus.com/authenticity.asp?ID=37
or this:
http://www.thecanadianexpat.com/ind...-authentic-inuit-arteskimo-art-stone-carvings

 

I have seen both, but while a sticker would prove it was authentic, the lack of one doesn't prove it isn't.
I thought we had one member here that could "read" the Inuit symbols?

 

I didn't mean to suggest that yours isn't authentic, but that it might have had the sticker and maybe the symbols table would help with translation. Sorry they weren't helpful.

 

Wendy, I wasn't offended or anything!!
I have struggled with those dang symbols for many a year, and haven't been able to make any sense of them. LOLOL

 

All I can read is C(opyright) 1977. It looks like low grade jade.

 

Jeeze! All these years, I thought the 77 was some of the symbols that I couldn't decipher!

 

You could run it by Waddingtons Auction Gallery. They have experts on Inuit art, and specialty sales. I don't know how amenable they are to casual inquiries.

 

I know many auction houses feel that way.
I rarely get a reply when I ask.

 

@Messilane I have used this site before and it worked - I can't make out all the symbols on your piece so I can't try it, but maybe it will work for you.
Mary
http://www.katilvik.com/content/bio...uktitut&myVar=4&myString=12,01,33&myButton=33

 

The 1st name is likely Noah....but I can't place the 2nd name.
Reading Inuktituk.....is at best ...a mind bender.

 

Thanks again, Komokwa. I know it bent my mind, and I couldn't even come up with Noah. sigh . . .
I use to collect seals, walrus, and other water mammals, and these two were my favorites.
My husband thought I was nuts when I got them - he thought they were rather ugly.
I tried to tell him that they were probably the best in the bunch, but he has "white bread" taste and couldn't see the beauty in them.

 

What matters is that you found beauty in their strong simple lines & enjoyed having them in your life.
Not everyone can see that.....not everyone should.

 

If everyone had thought them beautiful, they probably would not still have been on the shelf at the thrift store.

 

BTW....it's a walrus !

 

Without the tusks, I wasn't sure, and I knew some sea lions got really huge.

 

Male Stellar sea lions can get very big , but have a different body style.
& carvers don't always add tusks......