Fig. 417.—Ivory carving, dog.
One of the natives at Utkiavwĭñ, in May, 1882, conceived the fancy of smoothing off the tip of a walrus tusk into the shape of a pyramid, surmounted by a little conical cap and ornamenting it with incised figures, which he colored with red ocher. It appears to have been purely an individual fancy, as it has no utility, nor are such objects made by the Eskimo elsewhere, as far as I know. Having succeeded in finding a sale for this object, either he or one of his friends, I do not now recollect which, made another, which was brought over for sale about ten days later. We saw no others afterwards.
Fig. 418.—Engraved ivory: (a) piece engraved with figures; (b) development of pattern.
Fig. 418a (pattern developed in Fig. 418b, No. 56530 [220]) represents the first of these. It is made of solid white walrus ivory. The workmanship is quite rude, and the cap has been broken off and neatly fastened on with a wooden dowel. The other, Fig. 419a, 419b (No. 56529 [254]) is 3.7 inches long.
Fig. 419.—Engraved ivory: (a) piece with engraving; (b) development of pattern.