Walrus headdress

Reference : 171

Walrus headdress

Sitka spruce(Picea sitchensis), tendons,
pigeon feathers, marine ivory (walrus Odobenus Rosmanus),
feather quills for whiskers
Dimensions : Diameter approx. 20.3cm, Length 29.2cm
Yup’ik population
Presumed period: Second half of the 19th century
Village of Kenai, Cook Gulf
South Alaska, USA

Source :
Former collection of Dr. Wilson Kern. Acquired in 1905 in Kenai, Alaska
By descendants kept in the family
Private collection, West Jordon, Utah, USA, (acquired from previous owners)
Martin Doustar Collection, London

More details

This headdress, rarer than the masks, was made from a curved cedar frame held together by strips of sinew. Walrus head protruding from forehead. It was worn by the shaman and used in rituals and dances.

A photograph by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) in the collections of the U.S. Library of Congress, entitled “Maskette – Nunivak” and published on February 28, 1929, shows a Nunivak man wearing a headdress similar in structure to our own, but with a bird’s head (photo).

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