Lot 19
19
AN INUIT LARGE MARINE IVORY POLAR BEAR, with engraved mouth and eyes to the jutting head, standing with the forelegs divided, the back legs carved as a single block, the break at the neck secured by sinew and wooden pegs at four drilled holes, creamy to dark honey patina on a worn surface

Details
AN INUIT LARGE MARINE IVORY POLAR BEAR, with engraved mouth and eyes to the jutting head, standing with the forelegs divided, the back legs carved as a single block, the break at the neck secured by sinew and wooden pegs at four drilled holes, creamy to dark honey patina on a worn surface
24.5cm. long

Lot Essay

This fine old bear was probably found in the ice on St. Lawrence Island. Cf. another bear excavated from a prehistoric village site at Ipuitah, near Point Hope, by Froelich Rainey in 1945 (Collins, 1973, p.27, fig.25)

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