Bering Sea Norton Sound Eskimo Inuit Carved Spruce Wood Snow Goggles

A Pair of Bering Sea Norton Sound Eskimo Inuit Carved Spruce Wood Snow Goggles Coloured Black to the reverse of the narrow eye slits
An old native repair to hairline crack at right hand side
Old ink inscribed label to reverse ’28’
Mid 19th Century
Size: 4.5cm high, 13 ins wide - 1¾ ins high, 5¼ ins wide / 12cm ins high - 4¾ ins high (with base)
Around the beginning of March the returning sun begins to produce a glare on the snow covered Arctic landscape especially north of the tree line. By late April the country acts like a giant mirror reflecting ever more direct bright light. Inuit hunters out in this environment suffered severe pain and even blindness if their eyes were not well protected. Snow goggles also increased their distance vision by focusing the light. The goggles varied according to the locality in which they were made and could be carved of wood, often driftwood collected on the shoreline, or whalebone or from the tusk of a walrus.

Bering Sea Norton Sound Eskimo Inuit Carved Spruce Wood Snow Goggles

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ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk