Thule Figure

E 288) An unusual, stylized figure representing an ancestor. The body ends in an off-set point; perhaps the result of a functional or ritual usage (?). The large naturalistic head is well carved and set in a hierarchal pose. It appears that there were possibly tattoos to the face which today are undefinable.

Thule culture, Bering Strait, Alaska.
Mineralized walrus tusk (Odobenus rosmarus divergens).
Circa 1000-1800 AD.
8,7 cm.


 

Provenance Provenance : Information provided by Daniel Blau :
Field collected by Prof. Robert Bloch (Philadelphia & Munich) between 1939 and 1950 at “Krikik (Gatamut?, Ragantin?, Tagantin?) Alaska” – The word Krikik followed by (Gatamut?, Ragantin?, Tagantin?) is recorded on the paper label on a labret in the collection of Museum Fünf Kontinente (N° 95-318 427) but does not seem to be a place name – perhaps it is the name of the Inuit person who sold it to Bloch ?

Collection of Robert Bloch & Erika Bloch, Munich.
Dr. Karl-Ferdinand Schaedler, Munich.
Daniel Blau, Munich.
Anthony JP Meyer acquired from Blau in 1997.

Literature: See inventory numbers 97-319 519, 97-319 534, 97-319 530 in the Museum Fünf Kontinente, Munich for three objects acquired from Robert Bloch and Erika Bloch in 1997.
(https://onlinedatenbank-museum-fuenf-kontinente.de/detail/collection/6a13f4df-4d00-4c23-baba-a1ddfd31c1b2).