Walrus Tusk for sale

Walrus ivory, also known as morse, comes from two modified upper canines of a walrus. The tusks grow throughout life and may, in the Pacific walrus, attain a length of one metre.

 Walrus teeth are commercially carved and traded; the average walrus tooth has a rounded, irregular peg shape and is approximately 5 cm in length.

Walrus Tusk for sale

Carving

Walrus tusk ivory carving and engraving has been an important folk art for people of the Arctic since prehistoric times, among them the Inuit, Inupiaq and Yupik of Greenland and North America and the Chukchi and Koryak of Russia. The Chukchi and Bering Sea Yupik in particular continue to produce ivory.

The folk art of walrus-ivory carving has been popular in European Russia since the Middle Ages, with notable schools of walrus-ivory carving in Kholmogory and Tobolsk. During Soviet times,

several walrus carving collectives were established in villages in Chukotka, notably Uelen. International trade is, however, somewhat restricted by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).

Walrus Tusk for sale

Walrus Tusk perfect for carving. Details in the images.

Represented here is verified pre-1972 white walrus ivory, dug up brown “fossil” ivory and Alaska native scrimshawed or carved ivory all of which is exempt from the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act regulations.

The excavated ivory we have is from the ancient Yupik Eskimo village Kukuluk (coo coo’ look) and traditional hunting camp sites (dating up to 10,000 years old) on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea.

Walrus Tusk for sale

From the west coast of the island the snow covered mountains of Siberia can be seen looming in the distance only 60 miles away.

Eskimo people known as Siberian Yupik have for over 5,000 years used ivory for their tools and utensils, it was easier to work than stone and wood is rare that far to the north.

Years of burial have given these intriguing ivory and bone pieces a deep rich color.

These pieces were hidden from the world for centuries, when they were discarded in the village middens (dumps) along with tusks and bones of walrus, whales and seals.

Only now are these ancient ivory and bone pieces being unearthed, excavated by the direct descendants of the older times Yupiks that worked it, leaving this treasure that became buried as a blessing for their great great grandchildren.

Around the Arctic, many remote Indigenous communities depend on walrus for subsistence, cultural, spiritual, and economic purposes. Walrus tusks are carved into jewelry and artwork