Need some help with ulu ID

Mike Quesenberry

Mike Quesenberry

Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
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A friend of mine picked this up at an auction and was going to give it to his wife as a user. I told him I think it may be an antique and worth a few bucks. I know nothing about Alaskan artifacts so I was hoping someone on here could give a little insight to age, materials, and value. Thanks for your help.

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[/url] DSC_0406 by Mike Quesenberry, on Flickr[/IMG]

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[/url] DSC_0400 by Mike Quesenberry, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
Hi Mike, Well it has some history, it has a walrus ivory handle. The blade was almost certainly made from a hand saw blade as that is the standard. The style and construction is typical of the upper west coast of Alaska. Walrus never made it much further east than Barrow so we have to assume west of there and north of mid state. For age we would have to assume it's from after the gold rush in Alaska, say 1930s, thats when most of the trade of steel started, though of course it could have been earlier. From the yellowing of the ivory I would say early in that period. I have had several similar examples in my collection, If that ulu was in my store for sale, I would ask about $250.00 for it, and probably sell it fairly quickly at that price, to give you an idea of it's value. It's a very nice example.
 
Mark

Thank you for your informative response. I appreciate all the details and I'm sure my buddy will as well. Thanks again, Mike
 
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