Lot: 55

87th Tribal Art Auction

Model of Inuit kajak

Canada, Greenland, Inuit

Provenance Size Starting price / estimated price
Danish Private Collection (early 20th century) L: 24.8 inch This object is not available anymore.

corpus from wood, covered with black dyed animal skin, separately worked half figure with paddle, most detailed equipped with splash cover from leather, fixed with delicate fasteners from bone, fabric cothing with bonnet, arms from leather strips, equipment (harpoons, rope) fixed to the boat by cord material (partly missing), slightly dam. (tip of the boat), abrasion (leather).
A kayak is a small human-powered boat that traditionally has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler who strokes a double-bladed paddle. They were originally developed by indigenous Inuit people, who used the boats to hunt on inland lakes, rivers and coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic, Bering Sea and North Pacific oceans. These first kayaks were constructed from stitched seal or other animal skins stretched over a wood or whalebone-skeleton frame.