Skip to main content
Membership Shop

Inuit

Whistle in the Form of a Bear

Inuit, 1900-1932

Scroll

Inuit

Whistle in the Form of a Bear

Inuit

Whistle in the Form of a Bear

Inuit, 1900-1932

Physical Qualities Bone, 3 3/8 × 1 × 3/4 in. (8.6 × 2.5 × 1.9 cm.)
Credit Line John Erikson Collection
Object Number 1955.173.7
Much of the imagery associated with Bering Sea Inuit concerns the relationships between predators and their prey. Bears were considered one of the shaman's greatest helping spirits -- assistants in the spiritual flights over land and sea. Figures of the bear are often found in the shaman's paraphenalia kit. This example, a whistle, combines traditional Inuit visual symbols but was produced during the 20th century as a collector's item.
Purchased by John Erikson in Alaska ca. 1900
The Art of Music from The Baltimore Museum of Art
Philip Kopper, "The Smithsonian Book of North American Indians Before the Coming of the Europeans," Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1986, pp. 107-109.

Inscribed: none

Culture

Inuit

2000–2000

Meet Inuit →
Not on View

Explore the Collection Further

BY SAME ARTIST
AFRICA, THE AMERICAS, ASIA, AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
Inuit
Hunting reel with lure
1800–1932
Whistle in the Form of a Raccoon-Dog (He or Haozi)
801–900
Model whale hunting boat (Umiak)
Inuit
Model whale hunting boat (Umiak)
1800–1932
TEAPOT
James McNeill Whistler
Plate XXIII from the book "A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson (London: Elllis and White, 1878)," which reproduces pen and ink drawings by Whistler. One of a series of proofs, lacking the printed plate numbers and identifying numbers, of these illustrations in the Lucas Collection.
1877
Inuit
Doll
1900–1999
Moche
Whistle in the form of a warrior
100–800
Inuit
Lidded Box
1879–1889
Moche
Whistle in the form of a warrior
100–800
Inuit
Two Joined Bird Heads
1800–1899
Maya
Whistle in the form of a kneeling figure
250–100
Inuit
Fish
1867–1899
Maya
Whistle in the form of a kneeling figure
250–100