Inuit Wood Box as a Bear, 19th Century

Inuit

Wood | Item 2327

The Inuit wood box (likely cedar) is dug out of one piece of wood and has a bear with an elongated neck. Its head has ears, eyes and a mouth. The back end is rounded for his rump. The box has no lid to it, and no evidence of there having been one. I’m told that this may have been used as a box to hold harpoon hooks and that there would have been a lid on top tied with a cord around it. The wood has good age to it, with imperfections appropriate for its age. There is an inventory number at the bottom “M-4348” attached as a paper label. This was previously owned by Scott McCue, so I imagine the M stands for McCue.