1800's Late Antique Inuit Eskimo Hand Carved Arctic Fox

Late 1800's Antique Inuit / Eskimo Hand Carved Arctic Fox

An antique Inuit / Eskimo carved miniature Arctic Fox figure, ivory, whale bone or horn (circa late 1800's)

Unmounted, one hind leg shorter (broken?) but able to stand independently. Fatter than the lean fox listed - could be mother?

Carve marks, smoother and lighter colour on upper part mid-line, then darker underneath (definite line) some natural striations - lovely naive facial detail (eyes, mouth and ear marking).

1 5/8" long x 3/8" wide x 3/4" high (from ear tip) approximately

From enquiries by email - "These items are in keeping with a number of artifacts we have in our Inuit Ethnology collection at The Rooms Provincial Museum.  The ones in our collection are believed to have come from Labrador, and have been dated to the late 1800s. 

 Jane Sproull Thomson, a former curator here at the museum, wrote an article on them in 1992 in Inuit Art Quarterly (Vol 7 No 4, Fall/Winter 1992) where she notes their similarity to other collections housed at Bowdoin College in Maine, The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa/Hull and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.   She notes that many have interpreted these carvings as being tourist souvenirs.

 I hope this information has been of use.

 Elaine

 Elaine Anton

Collections Manager, Archaeology & Ethnology

The Rooms Provincial Museum

P.O. Box 1800, Stn. C

St. John's, NL

A1C 5P9

Ph: (709) 757-8076 "