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Marine mammal ivory amulet carved in embryonic form with abalone shell inlay - Donald Ellis Gallery

Shaman's Amulet

Tsimshian
Northern British Columbia

2nd quarter of the 19th century

marine mammal ivory, abalone shell

height: 3"

Inventory # N1384

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Carved in the form of an embryonic anthro-/zoomorphic figure, abalone shell inlaid in the eye socket and in two ovoids along the back, the long tail circling back and held by hand to mouth; two drilled holes for suspension from neck along back.

PROVENANCE

Charles Ratton, Paris, France
John K. Hewett, London, United Kingdom
George Ortiz, Geneva, Switzerland
Donald Ellis Gallery, New York, NY and Dundas, ON
Sir Kenneth Thomson, Toronto, ON
Donald Ellis Gallery, New York, NY and Dundas, ON

exhibited

Art Gallery of Ontario, November 2008–2024

RELATED EXAMPLE

For a similar example collected by Newcombe at Aiyansh, now at the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC, Inv. No. 9681, see:

Allen Wardwell, Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art, New York: The Monacelli Press, 1996, pg. 214