Spear Guards Or Line Guards
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1897
name: label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "CARVED IVORY. RENUMBERED. A-ILLUS. IN BAE 18TH AR, PT. 1; FIG. 72; P. 227. B-DITTO; FIG. 73; P.227. B: ILLUS. IN THE FAR NORTH CATALOG, NAT. GALL. OF ART, 1973, P. 68. 1/83 SITES INUA LOAN. Ivory Black figure Nelson 1899:227 176,086 LOANED TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART OCTOBER 20, 1972. RETURNED 5-29-73. LOAN: U.S.I.A. INUA JUN 24 1988. ILLUS.: INUA CATALOGUE USIA 1988, PL. 9, P.12. LOAN RETURNED DEC 28 1990." USIA Inua catalogue identifies: "This extraordinary pair of spear guards displays the images of six inuas. [The first, see the one on the right in neg. # 2009-33032-018] ... combines belugas with the smiling inua of a raven. The second piece [the one on the left in neg. # 2009-33032-018] combines seal imagery with a frowning masked inua. Both pieces have pierced hands symbolizing the game that the spirits are allowing the hunter to catch."
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. 2 of 2 on loan.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=656 , retrieved 10-21-2021; see web page for additional information: Line guards, Yup'ik. Hunting weapons and extra paddles were carried on the top of a kayak, held in place by leather lines that passed through small ivory guards at the edges of the deck. Line guards were often miniature sculptures that served as hunting charms. Toothed spirit faces are engraved on this pair and faces of seals appear when the guards are viewed from above. Beluga whales are embossed on the sides of the "frowning face" and seals flank the "smiling face." Complex, interlocking imagery is a distinctive trait of Yup'ik ivory carving.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 9 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Kaialigamut, Yukon & Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 97A00010
label: USNM Number
content: E176086-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Spear Guard
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 4.5 cm