What is this?

[Tishtash]

 

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[chub]

ancient corona test kit or a very brady bad luck charm

chub

 

[Tishtash]

A very Brady bad luck charm? What do you mean? I can't tell if it's bone or ivory. It was buried in the edge of the driveway saw the point of the hat sticking out of the dirt so I dug it up

 

[NZ49er]

Looks ivory. I'd compare to Alaskan native carvings

 

[Tishtash]

Thank you. I'll see what i can find

 

[trdking]

Im going Brady bad Karma.

 

[CCDAMEEK]

Heat a sewing needle with the flame from a lighter until it is red hot. Touch it to the bottom of the figure and gently try to push it into the bottom. If it goes in at all, it is a plastic of some kind. If the hot needle doesn't go into it or leave a mark, it is made of at the very least, bone, and could be ivory, but orientals made a lot of things like this out of animal or whale bone.

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!! Congrats!!

 

[ToddsPoint]

It's a netsuke, but it looks like a Klansman. Gary

 

[ARC]

It is IMO a little carved figure from Alaska... It is what appears to be Walrus Ivory.

Would bet on it.

It is called... "Inuit art"

 

[ARC]

 

[Tishtash]

I found those online but can't find one that looks just like mine

 

[Red-Coat]

Although what you have may well be Inuit-carved (if it’s ivory rather than resin), it has nothing to do with their culture. It’s what’s known as a “Billiken”… an imagined figure claimed to have been seen in a dream by the American art teacher and illustrator Florence Pretz of Missouri. She patented the design on 6th October 1908, taking the name “Billiken” from Bliss Carman's 1896 poem “Mr. Moon: A Song Of The Little People.”

She then commercialized it, selling all manner of objects using the figurine design as a good luck totem via the Billiken Company of Chicago: chalkware figures, dolls, moneybanks, jewelllery, lucky tokens, postcards and other items. The chalkware figures were also later sold with a throne that carried the motto "The God Of Things As They Ought To Be" around the base.

To buy a Billiken was said to give the purchaser luck, but to receive one as a gift would be better luck. The concept became a worldwide craze for several years and then faded into obscurity, although Billiken has been adopted as the official ‘God’ of the ‘Church of Good Luck’.

In 1909, Billikens began appearing in the souvenir shops of Alaska after an Eskimo carver in Nome called Angokwazhuk loosely copied it in ivory, based on one that had been given to him by a merchant. By the 1960s it was ubiquitous in larger Alaskan cities like Anchorage, and heavily touristed areas. These souvenirs were often accompanied by a little printed card that contained a largely invented history of Billiken and what he represented.

Here’s a couple of examples. The earrings are from the 1950s and the standalone carving perhaps somewhat older, but no earlier than 1909.

 

[G.I.B.]

How about adding a general location of your find. It may help narrow things down a bit.

 

[ARC]

I found those online but can't find one that looks just like mine

That's because they are each hand made... no 2 alike so to speak... there are individuals who practice the craft... each with their own "style" or "take"... on a fiqure.

Follow ?

Like I said .. it is Walrus Ivory OR walrus bone... or bone from anything really.

If it is Ivory it will be "telltale"...

Post picture of bottom and I will tell you if possible to see.

 

[Red-Coat]

I found those online but can't find one that looks just like mine

How identical do you need it to be? It is what it is... an Alaskan souvenir interpretation of modern invention known as a Billiken charm and post 1909. These are on display in the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska:

 

[Tishtash]

I found it buried except the point of it's hat at the edge of my driveway in southern Iowa

 

[islamoradamark]

oh wow I thought we were being invaded by the coneheads

 

[Tishtash]

That's because they are each hand made... no 2 alike so to speak... there are individuals who practice the craft... each with their own "style" or "take"... on a fiqure.

Follow ?

Like I said .. it is Walrus Ivory OR walrus bone... or bone from anything really.

If it is Ivory it will be "telltale"...

Post picture of bottom and I will tell you if possible to see.

I posted new up close pictures and pictures of the bottom also

 

[ARC]

I posted new up close pictures and pictures of the bottom also

Ahhh yes... I see them... most people just post a new post with them so I never looked at top of page... sorry.

Anyway...

Yes... IMO you have walrus ivory.

Age... unknown.

Just for your own knowledge you should take all the info contained herein and use "keywords" for searching this criteria online...

spend some time researching...

don't rely solely here for we cannot see the item in person... and you can