Wolf head pendant
Life Story
This small pendant was possibly part of an ear ornament. It was originally suspended by the two holes on the disc, and also appears to have had a further pendant string round the neck of the wolf, passing out through a tiny aperture at the mouth (now broken, giving the appearance of two canines). The number 2231.32 is painted in white on the plain back.
Steven Hooper, 1997
Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, Vol. 2: Pacific, African and Native North American Art, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997) p. 247.
Provenance
Collected on Nunivak Island in 1936 or 1937.
Formerly in the collection of Charles Ratton.
Acquired by Robert and Lisa Sainsbury in 1985.
Bequeathed to the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia by Lady Sainsbury in 2014.
On display
Title/Description: Wolf head pendant
Object Type: Ornament
Materials: Walrus ivory
Measurements: h. 32 mm
Accession Number: RLS 2
Historic Period: 19th/early 20th century
Production Place: Alaska, North America, Nunivak Island, The Americas
Credit Line: Bequeathed by Lady Sainsbury, 2014
