A drinking cup made of carved walrus tusk. Carved design with cross-hatching all around exterior sides.

Dagger hilt, or pommel, of walrus tusk or sperm whale tooth. Main section is the shape of a bear head, with a smaller bear crouching over the top of the lower head. Inlaid abalone eyes, teeth, nostrils and ears. A human figure extends right through the large head, its legs and knees protruding from each side of the main mouth, and the soles of its feet serving as teeth for the bear.

The bone is whale.

Whale bone figure. A woman stands on a small, irregularly shaped platform, wearing a parka that gathers at the waist and falls to the knees, slightly longer on the back hem. The hood is up over her head and her round face has carved nose, eyes and mouth in a downcast expression. Arms are held down and slightly away from her sides. The edge of the parka at hood, wrists, and bottom hem have an encircling, incised line for decoration.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Undecorated sperm whale tooth attached to a woven cord, called a tabua. The cord is made of braided plant fibre wrapped with colourful strands of yarn. Two holes are bored through the tooth, one at the tip and one near the top, through which the cord is tied.

Multi-component whale bone carving. A large, flat slab of bone (part a) serves as the base of the sculpture, with several small holes bored into the top. The holes hold short, fine, bone or wood pegs (parts f to k) which serve as the legs of four small carved birds (parts b to e) that stand atop the base. All the birds hold their wings on their backs, their eyes are small bored holes painted black or filled with a black substance, and one has an open beak.