Vintage Totem Dice Cup

Antique totem fossilized ivory and bone dice cup. This interesting little cup with a screw top features a Japanese artist’s iteration of Thunderbird over a Bear holding a Human figure, also known as the Alert Bay Totem. It probably dates to the 1930s and still retains much of its original pigment. Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and Native American Art that the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (YOCS) had historically ordered model totem poles, cigarette stems, toothpick holders, and other items carved in bone and ivory from a Japanese company called Takenoya Brothers (pp. 181-183; 196-197). In the early 20th century, these ivory and bone Japanese totem carvings appeared in the product catalogues of YOCS and were also sold in other curio shops in Alaska, Seattle, and the broader Pacific Northwest. As Duncan also points out, it’s likely that these objects were carved by netsuke artists, who would have already been skilled in carving bone and ivory and could probably copy totem pole designs from postcards and other photographic sources. 2 1/2"H x 1"D