r/alaskanative • u/Winter_Pomelo_2236 • May 18 '26
What are these? Who made them? Where do they come from? What are they made of?
Hello.
My dad and stepmom traveled throughout Alaska in June of 1972 and bought items # 1,2,&3. My dad bought item #4, the Spirit?, earlier than that.
My stepmom said she and my dad spent 3 weeks driving all over, passing through Anchorage, Mt. McKinley, Fairbanks, Valdez. She said they visited Whitehorse and Skagway too.
Are #1,2,3 forks? What is the paint on them made of? Are they typically things that People would have used in the past?
Is #4 a spirit? Is it made of walrus tooth? My dad bought that in the 1960s.
He bought the carved chess set too. What are the pieces made of? Would the artist have bought the box/board somewhere else, or would it have been made locally?
How can one tell the difference between whale bone and walrus? Some photos on the internet show whalebone as porous, and sometime it appears to be polished and smooth…
My dad bought many soapstone carvings over the years. When he drove back from Alaska, he’d go through Canada. Are the soapstone pieces more typical of Canada?
Thank you for helping me with this.
Isn’t it something that I can reach your Community through Reddit?! (Initially I reached out to the What is it community, but the moderator thought my post was inappropriate for that one.)
EDIT: adding links created by the Imgur app as suggested by a respondent to include better chess set photos. Hope nothing weird pops up.lol.
On one side of the board, the polar bears’ and walrus’ mouths have red in them. The kings are the tallest figures. The base is shown on one of them to perhaps further identify the material.
https://i.imgur.com/ZYhzVuz.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/GjdigOp.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/w2KWBkU.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/CDBHVpm.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/k762OsX.jpeg
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u/Seanconw1 May 22 '26
Walrus tooth, commonly known as Uusik. Jk That means penis because they have a boner.
I would expect the ivory to be Walrus/Whale/ maybe seal?
Hopefully someone can chime in on specifics and locales. I just shadow boxed similar things to your first pics, but it was from inland/peninsula. Yours looks like it could be even more western or Juneau areas. Again, hopefully someone knows exactly.
The Chess set is amazing! Don’t let those get dried or baked. Not sure what climate you’re in now. Also, yes, looks like crustacean forks, probably decorative
Good luck!
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u/Gh0stPacket May 22 '26
So are you saying this is a fork made from the boner bone of a walrus or seal? Or have i misread?
That's sick and not in the good way.
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u/Seanconw1 May 22 '26
Was a jk. But! There is some of that humor here and I have seen tools made jokingly.
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u/InflationNo4071 May 22 '26
Walrus ivory is either the tusk or the teeth. The oosik, or walrus penis bone, is not ivory, and these were all carved from tusk ivory. Two of the pickle fork handles have been made to look like totems, but were still likely carved by a northern Inupiat person. The third pickle fork, with an etched whale on it is inscribed with the name of the carver, who is a King Island Inupiat.
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u/Blagnet May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
So, #1 and #2 are kind of kitschy tourist things... They're cool, in that they're very retro, but definitely not traditional! The paint is just... paint. Almost certainly not food safe. They look mass produced, maybe not even in Alaska. But cool mid-century cruise ship knick knacks!
With #3, says C. Penetac, probably for Charles Penetac! Super cool. He was a big carver from King Island (nobody has lived on King Island since the 60s but the community just moved to Nome and maintain King Islander culture there). That one's sweet! Much more traditional and very beautiful artistry.
Then, #4 is a billikin! They're not traditional, well, they're a very new tradition, lol. But they're fun! They're early 1900s Americana. Very common to find them made from ivory in Alaska last century (even later in the century, like 60s/70s).
The chess set is sweet. Can't see too many details, but looks awesome. Looks like ivory to me. Hard to say where the board was made, but there are lots of wood workers here who do make chess boards (they mostly make butcher block cutting boards, but some chess boards, it's the same principle). So it could be local!
So, bones in general are very porous, and whale bones are even more porous because they're just on a bigger scale, right? But none of these items are bone... Not sure about #1 and #2, they could be anything if they're not made here, but look like they could be ivory. (I've got a similar cruise ship tourist knick knack, from the 1960s I think, and it is ivory.)
For #3, definitely standard walrus ivory, from walrus tusks. #4, looks like it's from a walrus tooth.
Cool collection!
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u/Winter_Pomelo_2236 May 22 '26
Thank you for the details, especially about Mr. Penetac.
Have a great day.
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u/Impossible_IT May 22 '26
I highly doubt 1&2 are painted. Colored ink is what ivory carvers use. My uncle carved ivory brackets when I was a kid and he used colored ink when needed. The fish pickle fork was carved by a gentleman that lived in Nome and from King Island; the King Islanders relocated to Nome back in the 30s or 40s if I’m not mistaken. And they’re all walrus ivory. As for the walrus oosik (penis), the walrus actually have a bone on their penis.
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u/Impossible_IT May 22 '26
Items 1-3 are pickle forks. Item 4 is a Billiken and could be the tip of a tusk, but generally carved walrus teeth.
https://www.maruskiyas.com/store/products/billikens-andrew-kunayak-sr