Sculpture of a polar bear
Alaska, Thule, Cape Wales
sold
EUR 1,600
Provenance
Christie’s, Paris, 10 juin 2008, lot 194Size
L: 11,5 cm
L: 4.5 inch
Description
walrus ivory, slightly encrusted matt patina, min. dam., fine cracks, slight traces of abrasion, base;
the “Thule” or “proto-Inuit” were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century.The appellation “Thule” originates from the location of Thule in northwest Greenland, facing Canada, where the archaeological remains of the people were first found at Comer’s Midden. The links between the Thule and the Inuit are biological, cultural, and linguistic.