Decorated Ivory Box Handle
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Jan 1931
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Henry B. Collins Jr.
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Henry B. Collins Jr.
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Cut 7 M. Section 9. Illus. Collins, Archeology of St. Law. Id., pl. 19. Illus. in exhibit catalogue Ancient Eskimo Ivories of the Bering Strait by Allen Wardwell, 1986; #93, pg. 84. Identified there as Pail or Bag Handle, walrus ivory, Old Bering Sea III, ca. 300 AD - 500 AD. Excavated by Collins in 1930 at Miyowagh, Cut 67, and found at sixty-seven inches below surface level. The design of this fine object represents five superimposed faces. At the bottom, the forms of two eyes, a nose, and a mouth can be clearly discerned; the scallop-cut edges are unusual. Cast loaned to the National Gallery of Art Oct. 20, 1972. Loan to the National Gallery of Art ret. 5/29/77. 9-30-85 Lent to the American Federation of Arts, Ancient Ivories of the Bering Strait Eskimo exhibition. Loan returned Mar 7 1988.
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. p 131. Identified there as a pail or bag handle, Old Bering Sea III, from the Mayughaaq (Miyowagh) site at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, walrus ivory, l. 15.0 cm. "The feather-like design is a superb exemplar of OBS artwork. Its delicate engraving is classic OBS III style. The perforated extension at left [see neg. # 2007-13709] has broken off, and the delicate nature of the object and its sharp edges, lacking wear, suggest it may have been the handle for a ritual vessel such as those used by the Inupiat to give "thirsty" sea mammals a drink of fresh water after their capture."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 26 Apr 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Gambell / St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea / St. Lawrence Quad, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 108529
label: USNM Number
content: A353765-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bag Handle