Pre-Contact Yupik Thule Walrus or Mammoth Ivory Figure

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Connoisseur's Delight Fine Art & Antiquities

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 27, 2024

Set Reminder 2024-06-27 11:00:00 2024-06-27 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Connoisseur's Delight Fine Art & Antiquities https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/connoisseurs-delight-fine-art-antiquities-16181
Classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

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• Lot Description
  Native American, Northwest Coast, Alaska, Bering Strait, Sivuquq (St. Lawrence Island), Yupik people, Thule, ca. 18th to 19th century CE. A fascinating figure, perhaps intended to serve as a game piece, hand-carved from walrus or mammoth ivory and hand-burnished to a lustrous finish. Resembling an anthropomorphic torso with petite, pointed ears reminiscent of a cat, the faceless and limbless figure is known as a qawawaaq in the St. Lawrence Yupik language and would have been carved by men for their daughters or female relatives. The girls would have had several of these figures to play unknown games in the sod houses. Particularly during the long and cold winter nights, or during stormy weather, we could imagine fathers carving these figurines from the walruses they had hunted just like their predecessors might have done. Size of figure: 1" L x 2" W x 5.2" H (2.5 cm x 5.1 cm x 13.2 cm); of case: 6.25" L x 2" W x 8.5" H (15.9 cm x 5.1 cm x 21.6 cm)
  
  According to St. Lawrence Yupik elder Vera Kaneshiro, the widening base make these small figures easy to stand up compared to the larger wooden or ivory play dolls (taghnughhaghwaaq, in the St. Lawrence Yupik language) or the walrus ivory or wooden alingtiiritaq (amulet or household guardian). The latter would have been placed inside the house to ward of bad luck and malevolent spirits. Archaeologist Otto Geist, however, mentions that qawawaaq like this figurine, were used as household guardians rather than as toys. Another alternative is that the qawawaaq were being used during storytelling. Whilst the exact purpose of these figurines remain unclear, we can assume that this figurine was equally held with great respect.
  
  Cf. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, catalog number 26/2498 and Sainsbury Centre, accession number 469.
  
  This is an ESA antique exempt piece of ivory and cannot be sold internationally or to anyone residing in the states of California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. We guarantee that the piece is over 100 years old.
  
  Provenance: private Litchfield, Ohio, USA collection
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #187104

  Condition

  Some minor surface wear as shown, but otherwise intact and excellent with nicely polished surfaces and light patina. Set in custom Riker case for display.
• Shipping Info

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