Alaska Mask Necklace (Collar con máscara de Alaska)

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Alaska Mask Necklace (Collar con máscara de Alaska)

Mexico, 1949
Jewelry and Adornments; necklaces
Silver, baleen from either a bowhead or blue whale, Alaskan or pinto abalone
Mask: 3 1/4 × 4 1/2 in. (8.26 × 11.43 cm) Chain length: 13 1/2 in. (34.29 cm)
Gift of Penny Morrill (M.2013.5.1)
Not currently on public view

Label

Noting William Spratling's success in Taxco, in 1945 the US Department of the Interior invited him to create a similar crafts industry to revitalize the Alaskan economy and encourage local tribes to d...
Noting William Spratling's success in Taxco, in 1945 the US Department of the Interior invited him to create a similar crafts industry to revitalize the Alaskan economy and encourage local tribes to develop their artistic talents. By 1949 a group of Alaskan veterans was sent to train at Spratling's workshop in Taxco. Altough Spratling designed two hundred prototypes, Congress abandoned the project. This striking necklace in the form of a Tlingit bear is one of the original prototypes.
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