Choice ivory and bone carvings

Luke Airut, Shaman Summoning Hunting Spirits

Bone, antler, sinew, 4 1/4 x 10 x 7 in. (10.8 x 25.4 x 17.8 cm)

Truly a tour de force, this elaborate scene is carved from a single walrus jaw bone. The large drum dancer in the center is flanked by a smaller drum dancer and a hunter, with a polar bear and a beluga on one end, and a bowhead whale and another beluga on the other end. The drums and drum beaters are carved separately, but all of the other figures comprise one integrated composition. Nothing is pegged. The delicacy of the carving has to be seen to be believed.

03031-2

Isaac Kulowiyi, Walrus and calf, 2015

Ivory, fossilized ivory, baleen, 4 1/2 x 5 x 2 in. (11.4 x 12.7 x 5.1 cm)

03089-1