History of engraving

History of engraving

Fig. 11 Cribbage board made from a piece of mammoth ivory. North Alaska (?), early twentieth century (?). AOA 1997 Am 10.1.



Fig. 10 Ivory table wear, made by Yup’ik (?) carvers...	Fig. 12 Portrait of the Iñupiaq carver Angokwazhuk or...	Fig. 13 Birds. Detail from engraved walrus tusk...



Fig. 14 Interior of Board of Trade, a shop in Nome...	Fig. 15 Coiled baleen basket with walrus ivory finial...	Fig. 16 Walrus ivory carvings of Canada goose and...


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Late nineteenth and early twentieth century: an ever-changing art

The presence of Euro-Americans introduced new ideas as well as new markets to Iñupiaq carvers in the late nineteenth century. From 1900 tourists to Alaska joined other Euro-Americans as avid consumers of Native Alaskan arts. Natives all over Alaska were always attentive to the kind of items that sold well, and were quick to adapt their repertoire to the ever-changing taste of the buyers (Fig. 10). New designs may have been stimulated by sailors' scrimshaw art or by newspaper illustrations. In addition, visitors may have commissioned specific engravings and new kinds of artefacts decorated with introduced motifs. Pictorial engravings were applied to new kinds of objects, such as smoking pipes, walrus tusks and cribbage boards (Fig. 11). During the twentieth century, small souvenir items such as letter openers and napkin rings entered the repertoire of Alaskan carvers.

From about 1890, a new pictorial style emerged in imitation of printed illustrations. This has been called the ‘Western pictorial style’ by Dorothy Jean Ray. It was characterized by great detail and realism, both in copying photographs and illustrations and in original subjects. The new style was pioneered by Angokwazhuk (c.1875-1918), also known as Happy Jack, a famous ivory carver who was reportedly always ready to try something new (Fig. 12). One of his innovations was the use of a fine needle for engraving, which permitted finer incisions and thus much more detailed engravings (Fig. 13). These engravings were immensely popular and, when Happy Jack moved to Nome during the gold rush, this engraving style was quickly adopted by other Iñupiaq carvers.

The popularity of engraved objects declined after the 1920s, as demand shifted towards smaller sculptural carvings of animals and humans. However, engraving remains part of the carvers' repertoire. Small pictorial or geometrical engravings are still used to decorate various kinds of souvenirs. In addition, carved human or animal figures are often incised to mark eyes, mouth, or the texture of fur and feathers (Figs 14-16).