Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States, North America
Accession Date:
16 Dec 1879
Notes:
FROM CARD: "TINY FIGURE OF OTTER LYING ON BACK, FRONT PAWS UP TO FACE. STOMACH AND BACK DECORATED WITH V-SHAPED SCRATCHED. CARVED LOOP ON BACK FOR HANGING. ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 5, ARCTIC, FIG. 10, PG. 172. ...USED AS DECORATIONS ON WOODEN HATS, AS AMULETS, AND POSSIBLY AS FASTENERS ON KAYAKS."
Ivory sea otter figure; made as a charm for hunting visors, this figure helped attract sea otters to the hunter.
Illus. Fig. 118a, p. 113 in Black, Lydia. 2003. Aleut art = Unangam aguqaadangin. Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Co. Publishers.