Winged Object

ca. 300

Okvik, Native American

On View

Native American, Level 1, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

The Winged Object functioned as a counterweight for a harpoon used to hunt seals and walruses. The thin, weblike tracery of engraved designs and the animal head carved in rounded relief were intended to please the inua or spirit of the hunted quarry. The Okvik were early Arctic ancestors of the Eskimo; they inhabited villages on both the North American and Asian sides of the Bering Straits as well as the several islands in between.

Title Winged Object

Artwork Date ca. 300

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Native American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Okvik

Medium Walrus ivory, patina

Dimensions Overall: 7 3/8 inches (18.7 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department Indigenous Americas

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Peter W. Stroh and the Stroh Brewery Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1983.7

Markings

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Provenance

1982, excavated by Eskimos from a specific site owned by the Floyd Wogitillan family at the old village of Kukulik (Kukulik site, Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, USA);
purchased by (Ron Nasser, HRN Primitives, New York, New York, USA);
1983-present, purchased by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Bulletin of the DIA 61, no. 3 (1982-1983): p. 10 (ill.).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 78-79 (ill.).

Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. Southport, Connecticut, 1994, p. 246.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Okvik, Native American, Winged Object, ca. 300, walrus ivory, patina. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Peter W. Stroh and the Stroh Brewery Foundation Fund, 1983.7.