Eskimo Carved Ivory Man in Kayak hunting Seal

A small sculpture with an Yupik Eskimo in his kayak and a seal looking back at him on an ivory mount.  The Yupik figure has a paddle in his left hand but his right hand is missing.  It probably held a harpoon. The kayak, which is the style used by the Yupiks in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and the Bering Sea in that area, has a sled on the back and scrimshaw  on the sides of the lines across the body of the kayak and a double paddle on one side and what looks like an atlatl on the other. There is a crack on the underside where the figure and kayak are pegged into the mount but the crack does not across the mount.  Even with the missing arm, this is an impressive little sculpture.

L. 3 ¼" : W. 1 ½" : H. 1 ¼"

c.1950
Sold #7909



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