Ivory Female Figure
date: label: Accession Date
content: 3 Jan 1929
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Henry B. Collins Jr.
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Described in Prehistoric Art of the Alaskan Eskimo (Illus: pl. 16-b). (Surface Layer, Cut Above D). One cast exchanged, Field Museum of Natural History., Chicago, 8/27/31. Loaned to the National Gallery of Art October 20, 1972. Returned by the National Gallery of Art May 30, 1973 .... 9-30-1985 Lent to the American Federation of Arts; Ancient Ivories of the Bering Strait Eskimo exhibition. Loan returned Mar 7 1988. Illus. in exhibit catalogue Ancient Eskimo Ivories of the Bering Strait by Allen Wardwell, 1986; #117, pg. 98. Identified there as Female Torso, walrus ivory, Punuk, ca. 500 AD - 1200 AD. This unique sculpture probably represents a pregnant woman. A small hole of unknown function has been cut into the top side of the left breast."
label: Notes
content: Illustrated in Fitzhugh, William W., Julie Hollowell, and Aron L. Crowell. 2009. Gifts from the Ancient Ancestors: Ancient Ivories of Bering Strait. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, CT, Fig. 20, p 201. Identified there as tattooed figurine, Punuk, walrus ivory, h. ca. 12 cm.. "This full-figured ivory, apparently pregnant, is notably more naturalistic than most other known Punuk-style sculptures. Arms are held close to the torso, pendulous breasts hang low, and two engraved bands around the waist and thighs represent an undergarment. The upper waistband curves and climbs up the lower back, perhaps indicating the location of an amulet strap. Tattoos with linear markings on the breasts, shoulders, and upper arms are barely visible today." Illus. (under incorrect # A244107-0) in Fig. 18.12, p. 283 in Krutak, Lars F., and Aaron Deter-Wolf. 2018. Ancient ink: the archaeology of tattooing. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Apr 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Punuk Island, St. Lawrence Quad, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 100592
label: USNM Number
content: A344107-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Figure