#39 • Massive Inupiaq Baleen Basket - Marilyn Hank Otton

Part of December 2025 Premier Auction (live auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $5,750.00

Status: Sold

Category: Ethnographic Objects

The traditional art form of Inupiaq basket weaving is showcased in this exceptional baleen basket specimen with finely crafted coiling. This generously sized, museum-quality basket has a gently domed lid, topped with a walrus tusk finial carved in the shape of a whale fluke. The starter base tusk disk is signed by Inupiaq artist Marilyn Hank Otton (1947-2021) of Point Hope, Alaska. The Alaskan Native art of basket weaving is kept alive by very few people, mostly men, and produced in only a few cities and villages across Alaska, such as Barrow, Point Hope, Kivalina, and Kotzebue. Marilyn Hanks' family is part of those master weavers, and she was taught the skill at the hands of her parents, Carl and Eunice Hank; the family's works are housed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. This beautiful example of the art form measures approximately 12.25" in diameter by 4" tall and is the second-largest baleen basket we have brought to market.