Art of engraving

Art of engraving

Fig. 10 Short-handled crooked knives. Perhaps the most important man's tool, crooked knives were used to carve objects of various materials, including ivory. They consisted of a curved iron or steel blade set into an antler handle. Collected by the Fifth Earl of Lonsdale, probably at Liverpool Bay, summer 1888. AOA 1890,8-9.65-67.



Fig. 8 Andrew Tooyak working in his studio in...	Fig. 9 Portrait of the Iñupiaq carver Angokwazhuk or...	Fig. 11 Decorated, long-handled crooked knife...


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The engravers and their tools

Like carving in general, engraving was men's work (Fig. 8). Although some individuals might have been better at carving or engraving than others, there were few specialists. One notable exception was the famous carver Angokwazhuk (c.1875-1918; Fig. 9), also known as Happy Jack, who made carving his full-time occupation after a hunting accident at the age of eighteen.

No special tools or pieces of equipment were needed for engraving. The engravers worked with the same tools used for making hunting equipment and other everyday items. A boy might receive some tools and weapons as gifts from his father or close male relatives, but usually each adult hunter made and decorated his own equipment. The incisions were made with a graver, knife, or any suitable sharp tool (Figs 10, 11), and then filled with black colour - a mixture of black ash and oil, later replaced by India ink - so that they clearly stood out against the white of the background.