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Hurst
Gallery exhibit archives.... |
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This exhibition presents a broad range of work from the Old Bering Sea cultures through the Post-contact Period, including several examples of contemporary sculpture made during recent decades. Most of the objects come from a single private collector whose acquisition notes have been selectively reproduced in italics. Hurst Gallery will provide any further available collection history for any item to the eventual purchaser. The entries make few references to condition unless items have substantial repairs or restored parts; defects judged to be slight are not noted. Upon request, the Gallery will furnish a detailed condition report for any item. Attributions are difficult especially for Pre-contact Period objects. Careful, controlled excavations are rare; most published reports contain numerous objects purchased from native salvage diggers and nearly all focus on excavations of middens or trash heaps, where recycling and mixing has continued throughout centuries. On St. Lawrence Island, for example, native salvage digging has been virtually the only source for objects since 1971 (Wardwell, 1986b:57). The situation with Post-contact material is only slightly less problematic; the literature often relies on secondary sources, frequently offers only regional provenience, and usually provides open-ended chronology at best. Even the identities of 20th century Eskimo artists were seldom recorded by dealers, collectors, or the artists themselves. The attributions given here are based upon stylistic considerations and comparisons with published examples. Cultural dates are approximate and conform to those in the Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 5 (Sturtevant, 1984). The Dictionary of Alaska Place Names (Orth, 1967), a standard for location references, has been used here without citation. The author wishes to acknowledge the generous assistance and advice of Dr. Edmund Carpenter, Vernon Doucette, Dr. Stuart Frank, Ann Wright-Parsons, Dr. Dorothy Jean Ray, Allen Wardwell, and Bill and Carol Wolf. Unless specifically stated, the author takes sole responsibility for all attributions of maker, material, culture, and period as noted. Norman Hurst
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Last updated 12/19/00, All material copyright Hurst Gallery 1998 |
