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A Denise Wallace "Old Bering Sea Figure I" pin/pendant image 1
A Denise Wallace "Old Bering Sea Figure I" pin/pendant image 2
A Denise Wallace "Old Bering Sea Figure I" pin/pendant image 3
Property of Another Owner, Lots 3-7
Lot 3Y

A Denise Wallace "Old Bering Sea Figure I" pin/pendant

16 September 2019, 11:00 PDT
Los Angeles

Sold for US$11,325 inc. premium

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Denise Wallace

Chugach Aleut, (b. 1957), an "Old Bering Sea Figure I" a pendant/pin, stylized figure with hinged tunic enclosing a carved ivory torso and arms, 2001, apparently a unique example, sterling silver and fossil ivory.
length 3 3/4in, width 1 1/8in

Footnotes

Provenance
Per the collector, purchased directly from the artist

Illustrated
Dubin, Lois Sherr, Arctic Transformations: The Jewelry of Denise & Samuel Wallace, Easton Studio Press/Theodore Dubin Foundation, New York, NY, 2005, p. 11, fig. 9

Transformation, both with regard to the stories told through the iconography of the pieces as well as the versatility of the objects themselves is a major through-line of Wallace's work. "Old Bering Sea Figure I," for example, can be worn either as a pendant or a pin. The piece itself also mutable, featuring a hinged door that opens to reveal the figure's carved ivory body.

"'Technically, I'm fascinated with movement,' says Denise. 'I like the idea that a piece can be versatile. I think that this has to do with the fact that a lot of Aleut and Eskimo older pieces had multi-meanings or transformations.'" Further elaborating on Wallace's theme of transformation, anthropologist Kari Chalker is quoted: "Arctic stories are transformed into jewelry and the jewelry itself is transformed with the client's ownership. When a client buys a piece, it becomes theirs, and it takes on new personal meaning - a new story, a story of their awareness of Arctic cultures and their connection to Denise and Sam [Wallace]" (Dubin p. 63).

Additional information

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