#40 • Yup'ik Qantaqusiq & Ancient Okvik Fossilized Walrus Tusk Doll Torso

Part of June 2024 Premier Auction (live auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $180.00

Status: Sold

Category: Ethnographic Objects

A beautiful Yup'ik artifact in the form of a qantaqusiq, or man's tobacco bag, likely from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Crafted of shaved sealskin and stitched with seal gut, it features a caribou hide and fossilized walrus tusk drawstring. The top demonstrates some edge loss, rather from simple age or from the habit of cutting a piece from the empty, yet tobacco-permeated bag, and chewing it when the tobacco supply was exhausted. Also includes an Okvik or Old Bering Sea I doll torso, likely dating to 100 to 400 AD. The doll, originally carved from walrus tusk, now has a rich fossilized coloring from being buried within the permafrost for hundreds of years; having been found within excavated items from St. Lawrence Island. The tobacco bag measures approximately 4" x 1" x 8.25" tall, and the torso measures 2" x 3.25".