Alaskan Scrimshaw Belt Buckle with Moose [SOLD]

Scrimshaw is a process of engraving or carving designs in bone or ivory. It is an artform that is thought to have originated from the handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts from marine mammals. One of the most popular materials used by scrimshaw artists is fossilized walrus ivory. Fossilized ivory ranges in color from cream through buff and brown to dark green, blue and even black. The artist engraves an image on the ivory and then colors it with inks.

This belt buckle features an intricate scrimshaw design on fossilized walrus ivory. The cream colored ivory canvas has natural striations of light beige which are the result of minerals being absorbed into the ivory over several hundred or thousands of years. The artist engraved a scene  which looks like the *Northwoods (forest). Majestic mountains rise in the background with pine trees framing a large moose. All we know about the artist is that he or she came from the Huston family from Alaska. There is an engraved signature in the bottom right which looks like KKF. It is possible that one artist made the scrimshaw and another artist executed the silverwork.

Condition: The Alaskan Scrimshaw Belt Buckle with Moose is in excellent condition.

Provenance: From the estate of a former client from Oregon who amassed a collection of 40 Native-made belt buckles.  This one was purchased from the Arctic Spirit Gallery in Ketchikan, Alaska in 2015.

Recommended Reading: Scrimshaw: The Whaler's Legacy by Martha Lawrence

*The Northwoods are the boreal forest of North America, covering about half of Canada and parts of Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.  - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia