Walrus tusk with incised and darkened scenes; walrus herd and polar bear cubs on one side, reindeer herd and 2 reindeer pulling sled on the other side; rawhide thong hanger attached through perforation; Chukchi reindeer herders.
Donor:
Phoebe Apperson Hearst
Collection place:
Lower Yukon, Yukon, Yukon-Koyukuk Borough
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska; Lower Yukon
Culture or time period:
Chukchi
Collector:
Charles L. Hall
Collection date:
ca. 1895
Taxon:
Odobenus rosmarus
Object type:
ethnography
Accession date:
August 12, 1902
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 49 centimeters
Comment:
Published: Ray, Eskimo Art (1977), fig. 260. "Ray: "This tusk was engraved before 1894 because the man seated on the sled and the one watching over the reindeer herd are Siberian (Chukchi) herders, not the Lapp herders who came to Alaska first in 1894 and again in 1898. Several Siberian herders were hired in 1892 and 1893 to help with the newly imported domesticated Siberian reindeer at Teller Reindeer Station. These men are dressed in Siberian clothing. Laplanders were always identified in Eskimo engravings at that time by a four-cornered hat on their heads (see illustration in Ray 1969, fig. 15, bottom). The drawing style of the walrus, polar bears, and ice formations are like those on the following tusks: figures 254 and 258, this book; and USNM 316, 691 and 316, 692 (both illustrated in Ray 1969)." Published/illustrated in Handbook of North American Indians, volume 5, pg. 282.
Loans:
S1962-1963 #60: Department of Anthropology (UC Berkeley)/Vincent Evans (June 17, 1963–June 17, 1963), S1966-1967 #80: Life Sciences Bldg. Photo Lab (UC Berkeley) (March 21, 1967–April 14, 1967), and S1976-1977 #92: M. H. de Young Memorial Museum (June 27, 1977–April 7, 1978)