1928 Scrimshawed Caribou Bone Snow Knife tool handles tender portrait

tender portrait

There are a few small tears around the edges of the paper

Such a beautiful form

I've always got an eye peeled for beautiful antique sets of spillikins

with a slightly squarish shape to the rings

1928 Scrimshawed Caribou Bone Snow Knife tool handles tender portraitAt first I took this scrimshawed blade for a letter opener, but I have since learned that it is, I believe, much more interestingly an Inuit snow knife! From what I have read, some snow knives (as I believe is most likely the case with this smallish, decorated one) were used by young girls as stylists to draw pictures in the snow, with these being passed down from older to younger girls. Other snow knives were used as tools for cutting hard packed