Native American, Northwestern United States, Alaska, Inuit, Pre-Contact Period, ca. 15th to 18th century CE. This is a wonderful example of a hunting tool hand-carved from a whale bone into a harpoon foreshaft! The tapered bone has a socketing cavity at the wider end for mounting on a pole, and the other end has two prongs that create a slot for holding a separate stone blade. A drilled piercing before the blade slot is for a line or cord to pass through that would run down the handle to the hunter to pull this shaft and large animals ashore. A linear carving is engraved from the blade end towards socketing hole on one face. This large shaft was ideal for prey such as seals, walrus, and whales! Size: 9.5" L x 2.25" W (24.1 cm x 5.7 cm)

Provenance: private Southern California collection, California, USA, acquired through descent 2006; ex-private California collection, USA, before 2000

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#168159

Age and use expected surface wear and chip to the tip of narrow prong. Abrasions and stable fissures throughout, but otherwise intact with nice patina.