Fig. 402.—Ivory figures of bears.
No. 56528a [56a] from Utkiavwĭñ is a walrus tooth, 1.6 inches long, carved into the shape of a bear’s head. Both design and execution are very rude. Light blue glass beads are inlaid for the eyes, and the nostrils and outline of the mouth are incised and filled in with black dirt. It was made for sale. A still more rude carving, also made for sale, is No. 56528, from Utkiavwĭñ, which is an old and weathered canine tooth of the polar bear, with the point freshly whittled so as to look something like a bear’s head. Two sky-blue glass beads are inlaid to represent the eyes and one for the nose, and the mouth is incised and blackened.
The walrus does not appear to be a favorite subject for representation. The part of the collection already described shows that it occurs very seldom as a decoration, and we obtained only three images of this animal, one in soapstone and two in ivory, all small and very rude, both in design and execution. They are all newly made. The best image is shown in Fig. 403a (No. 89333 [1384] from Utkiavwĭñ). This is 2.3 inches long and made of coarse walrus ivory. The head is rather good, but the body simply tapers to a broken point. A bit of wood is inlaid for the left eye, but the right is merely represented by a hole.
Fig. 403.—Rude ivory figures of walrus.
Fig. 403b (No. 89334 [1067], from Utkiavwĭñ) is exceedingly rude. The eyes, nostrils, and mouth are incised and blackened as usual, and the vibrissæ (“whiskers”) are represented by rather large round pits on the snout, also filled in with black dirt. It is 2.9 inches long, and appears to have been dipped in the oil-bucket to make it look old. Both the images bear a strong resemblance to the rude carvings of walruses from Siberia figured by Nordenskiöld.[517a] No. 89570 [1271] from Nuwŭk is of soapstone, 2 inches long, with tusks rudely carved from walrus ivory. The head is but roughly indicated, while the body is shaped like a slug, and is bifid at the pointed end to represent the hind flippers. The eyes and nostrils are roughly incised.