λ An Inuit needle case Bering Strait

λ An Inuit needle case

Bering Strait, Alaska

walrus ivory, with four carved seated figures, three looking forward and one with his head turned to his left and with a seated polar bear at the back, with inset baleen eyes, hollowed through the centre, early 20th century,

11.7cm long.

cf. Smithsonian Institution, Accession Number 80A00050, for a needle case with four seated figures collected by Edward W. Nelson, from King Island, Bering Strait, Alaska, November 1880.