Anthropomorphic comb ·  Alaska, St. Lawrence Island, Punuk Culture · ID: 3035506

Description

walrus ivory, eight teeth, flat hilt plate with incised lines, slightly dam., missing parts (head, tips of the teeth), socle;
aside of combs designed for grooming human hair like the present one, there were smaller ones with shorter teeth.They were used for cleaning and defrosting fur garments and bedding, and splitting strips of baleen and grass for weaving.
The Punuk Culture (600-1200 AD) is the name given to the whaling society along the old Bering Sea of Alaska. The St. Lawrence Island is located west of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea.

The object Anthropomorphic comb with the object ID 3035506 was part of the auction 74th tribal art auction on September 7, 2013. The object with the lot number 38 achieved a sales price of EUR 400 with an asking price of EUR 300.

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Comparing literature

Fitzhugh, William W., Gifts from the ancestors, London 2009, p. 153 Bandi, Hans-Georg, Die Kunst der Eskimo auf der St.-Lorenz-Insel in Alaska, Bern, Stuttgart 1977, p. 44