North America | Alaska
Okvik
Amulet
Alaska
Amulet/ Head
Old Bering Sea I culture, Okvik
200 B.C. – 100 A.D.
Warlrus tooth
Height: 8.2 cm – 3 ¼ in.
Provenance
Excavated circa 1986-1987 on the Old Village site of Cape Kialegak,
St Lawrence Island, Alaska
Ex collection Jeffrey Myers, New York
Ex collection Saul & Marcia Stanoff, New York acquired from above
Ex Sotheby’s New York, 17 May 2007 lot 76
Ex private collection, France, acquired at the sale above
Sold
This head is imbued with power and mystery. The tautly stretched facial features are reminiscent of the art of Alberto Giacometti or Henry Moore.
This archaic carving demonstrates immense sculptural presence. From an artistic standpoint, it is both beautifully haunting and mystical.
The holes at both ends of the amulet may suggest this shamanic sculpture was originally attached to chain links as shown on other artefacts found in the Punuk Islands midden by Otto W. Geist during the 1931-1934 excavations (see Eskimo Prehistory: The Okvik Site on the Punuk Islands Bering Sea, Alaska in Memoirs, Froelich Rainey, 1941, American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Redolent of sacredness, this amuletic head from an immemorial past seems to stare at us with a gaze that is infinitely poetic and magnetic.
This sculpture is a veritable miniature giant.
This archaic carving demonstrates immense sculptural presence. From an artistic standpoint, it is both beautifully haunting and mystical.
The holes at both ends of the amulet may suggest this shamanic sculpture was originally attached to chain links as shown on other artefacts found in the Punuk Islands midden by Otto W. Geist during the 1931-1934 excavations (see Eskimo Prehistory: The Okvik Site on the Punuk Islands Bering Sea, Alaska in Memoirs, Froelich Rainey, 1941, American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Redolent of sacredness, this amuletic head from an immemorial past seems to stare at us with a gaze that is infinitely poetic and magnetic.
This sculpture is a veritable miniature giant.
Publication
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