#40 • "Driftwood Pack" & "Halibut Fisher" Aleut Dolls - Linda Duran

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

High bid $550.00

Status: Sold

Category: Ethnographic Objects

Two gorgeous Aleut (Unangan) hunter dolls crafted by Linda Duran circa 2004, both from hand-sculpted organic clay, wool, and leather. Aleut women would wear birdskin pelt parkas with fine embroidery using hair, feathers, and shells, plus ritual-related tattoos, labrets, and bone and walrus tusk pierced ears and nose. "Driftwood Pack" represents such a woman, featuring bronze coque (rooster) feathers in lieu of cormorant, plus fish skin. Men of the 18th Century wore waterproof gut-strip parkas and elaborate painted bentwood hats featuring sea lion whiskers, beads, and ivory pieces. "Halibut Fisherman" represents the 18th Century men attired in a faux gutstrip parka (casing), with sinew, bone, otter, and wood for his paddle. Both dolls are standing in bare feet upon round slices of birch, each with tiny stones and mossy grass. Bronze number tags are affixed to the bases, and correspond to paper tags with a list of materials and information, as shown. Largest doll measures approximately 6" x 6.5" x 14"  tall.