Wound Plug in the form of a seal

Yup’ik

Alaska

Mid 19th Century

Wood, Beads, Fur, Leather

38.5cm

ex. Mendelson Collection

ex. Private Collection, New York

The seal is among the important natural resources for the Inuit, providing meat, oil, fur, and bones. Unlike other sea mammals, the seal is available to hunt year round and can be captured even when there is large amounts of ice cover. When hunting for seal, the Inuit hunter may have to pierce the animal multiple times before it is killed. To keep the body from taking on water and sinking, the hunter uses a wound plugging tool such as this one to insert wooden ‘corks’ into the harpoon holes. This is especially important for kayak hunts, where the hunter will use bladder floats to tow the seal behind his kayak for the journey home. These plugging tools range from simple carved rib bones to more elaborate wooden examples featuring zoomorphic heads, often in the form of a seal surfacing to breathe.  This example to me is among of the most amazing I have seen, with the raised head, classical Yup’ik seal face, and vibrant blue trade beads.