Inuit Model Kayak, Hand-Sewn Sealskin over Pine Frame, Alaska

Native American, Inuit. A model kayak built the way the full-size boats were: a wooden frame, reportedly pine, wrapped in skin, likely sealskin, and sewn closed by hand. A seam runs the length of the deck in a neat zigzag of stitches, and it splits and curves away around a round cockpit. That cockpit has a raised, rolled rim, a scaled-down version of the hoop that a paddler's spray skirt was tied to. Through the opening you can see the slats and ribs of the frame inside. The hull is narrow and sharp at both ends, with the bow swept gently upward. Its sides are slightly flat-faced where the skin is pulled tight over the frame. The skin has aged to warm tones of ivory and buff. Pieces like this were likely made as toys, teaching models, or for sale to visitors, and each one copies the real boat closely. The kayak, or qajaq, was among the most important inventions of Arctic peoples. It was a light hunting boat built from driftwood or other wood and covered in stretched animal skin. Men usually built the frame, and women prepared the skins and sewed the cover. They used a stitch that did not go all the way through the hide, so the seam stayed watertight. On a model like this one, the same deck seam and the cockpit rim are copied in miniature. Model kayaks had several uses in Arctic communities. They served as children's toys and as practice pieces for learning how a boat was put together. From the later nineteenth century they were also made for whalers, traders, missionaries, and collectors. Their shape often reflects the local kayak type the maker knew, such as the profile of the bow and stern, the shape of the cockpit, and the cross-section of the hull. That makes them useful records of regional boatbuilding traditions as well as appealing objects. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 206113

Schätzpreis:222,77€

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