#14 • Walrus Tusk Totemic Figure w/ Female Holding Seal Aloft - William Soonagrook, Sr.

Part of Collection of Arthur Gross Day 1 (live auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $400.00

Status: Sold

Category: Figural Carvings

A highly unique walrus tusk totemic figure featuring an upside down bowhead whale, fluke positioned as a seat for the female human resting upon it. The woman, clad in snowsuit and mukluks, looks upwards and over her right shoulder as she holds a seal aloft in her hand; the seal in turn holds a salmon within its mouth. Both the seal and whale feature baleen eyes, and the entire sculpture is mounted upon a slice of walrus tusk. Signed on the underside by Central Siberian Yup'ik carver William Soonagrook, Sr. (b.1934) of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; the artist has works held within the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Measures approximately 3" x 2" x 9.5" tall.