Inuit, Alaska
19th century
Walrus ivory with trade bead
Length 3¾ inches (9.5 cm)
Provenance: Edward Sipes, collected in Alaska 1952–1955
This walrus ivory toggle carries an inset trade bead eye, a combination that places it within the period when commercial goods were entering Alaska Native communities through trade contact. The ivory has developed a patina consistent with age and handling. Sipes spent three years as a teacher with the Alaska Native Service, one year in the Bering Sea village of Kesigillingok and two years in Point Hope, collecting historic and prehistoric material during his time there.
The toggle is a functional form central to Inuit material culture, used to secure lines, harnesses, and clothing, and examples collected in the field with documented provenance of this specificity are uncommon. Sipes returned to Oregon after his Alaska tenure, and the objects he acquired passed into private collections there. The trade bead inset eye distinguishes this piece visually from purely traditional examples.
This is an ESA antique exempt ivory object. It cannot be sold internationally or to buyers residing in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, or Washington. The piece is guaranteed to have been made prior to 1972.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Inuit, Alaska
19th century
Walrus ivory with trade bead
Length 3¾ inches (9.5 cm)
Provenance: Edward Sipes, collected in Alaska 1952–1955
This walrus ivory toggle carries an inset trade bead eye, a combination that places it within the period when commercial goods were entering Alaska Native communities through trade contact. The ivory has developed a patina consistent with age and handling. Sipes spent three years as a teacher with the Alaska Native Service, one year in the Bering Sea village of Kesigillingok and two years in Point Hope, collecting historic and prehistoric material during his time there.
The toggle is a functional form central to Inuit material culture, used to secure lines, harnesses, and clothing, and examples collected in the field with documented provenance of this specificity are uncommon. Sipes returned to Oregon after his Alaska tenure, and the objects he acquired passed into private collections there. The trade bead inset eye distinguishes this piece visually from purely traditional examples.
This is an ESA antique exempt ivory object. It cannot be sold internationally or to buyers residing in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, or Washington. The piece is guaranteed to have been made prior to 1972.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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