Featured Antique Alaskan fish effigy?

Hi all,I bought this thinking it was a African tribal (or curio) symbolic item of bone (probably bovine) and something like ebony wood. However the image search had one exact match (that I could find) from a auction saying: an antique whale bone fish effigy from Alaska? (Sold with another more interesting item) Iam doubtful if that’s correct.
What do you all think? The 2 parts fits together and is 18cm long overall. Thanks for any comments

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/two-whale-bone-items-tool-and-fish-effigy-508-c-5094bbf85e

 

This Danish site has a male and female figure made in a similar way:

https://www.dba.dk/recommerce/forsale/item/2046659?ci=5

They think it is from Congo, yet they call it "tubilak" (tupilak) which is an Inuit word.
If these are indeed from Congo, maybe your fish is meant to be a crocodile?

 

This figurine on a Bulgarian site could be related:

https://bazar.bg/obiava-49332320/statuetka-ot-rog-23-4

They don't mention an origin.

Oh, and the Danish site has more:

https://www.dba.dk/recommerce/forsale/search?q=tubilaker

Maybe the way the faces and limbs are carved on one pair are an indication of the origin:



@2manybooks ?

 

My vote would be for African rather than Inuit. If Inuit, the black part would have to be baleen, and it looks more like ebony than baleen.

 

Thank you AJ. I have been looking at tupilak figurines. Some very interesting but also bizarre ones.

 

I do not recognize this type of artifact. I agree that it is not Inuit. The style of carving does look like it might be African, but I cannot find a comparable that is well identified.

Is there any chance that the dark piece is horn (including antelope horn) rather than wood?

The form is curious. If the bone part is hollow all the way through, it could not serve as a container. Is there any indication of a mechanism that would secure the dark piece into the bone? I found this item with a similar format, described as being from Timor, that is presented on a stand -


https://store.lilysliving.com/new-arrival/12-timor-ceremonial-figure-with-stand-natural-bone/

 

It looks like there might have been a band of some sort glued over the junction between the two pieces, leaving a faint line in the horn/wood, and glue residue on the bone -

 

My vote is for Indonesian. I've had Indonesian bone figure carvings whose style, with the exception of the circular eyes, matches what you have here. I've also had pieces that included horn that looks similar.

But, as always, I'm no expert!

 

Looking at the similarly made pieces we found, I don't think the two parts are meant to come apart.

That piece has an Adu Zatua ancestor figure from Nias on top. Nias is an island west of Sumatra, Indonesia, a long way from Timor.

Adu Zatua:



Adu Zatua are tied in a row to an altar.
Afaik the people of Nias don't use miniature Adu Zatua as decoration. The Adu Zatua are kept on the sacred setting of the altar.

All of these related pieces are carved in different styles, so I wonder if they are 'tribal' souvenirs. In that case Indonesia is a good bet. If Indonesian, the materials are probably buffalo horn and bone.

 

I noticed that, as well as no one seeming to know where they really came from. This often means a generic "tribal" theme, with no serious roots in any particular tradition.