Mystery and Wonder of Gutskin

Alaska State Museum II-F-181 Aleut Gut Parka collected 1939

Alaska State Museum 2008-10-1 Aleut Hat

Alaska State Museum 2008-10-1Aleut hat no flash

Alaska State Museum 2008-10-1 Aleut hat translucency shown with flash

Alaska State Museum 2008-10-2 Aleut bag

Alaska State Museum II-A-4422 to 4224 Iñupiaq bladder pouches from King Island

Alaska State Museum II-A-3031 and 3036 thought to be sea lion esophagus bags

Alaska State Museum II-A-3069 sea lion esophagus stretched for drying

Alaska State Museum II-A-3027 Iñupiaq ball collected in Barrow, thought to include walrus throat

Alaska State Museum II-A-2389 torn gut on bag from Nome

Alaska State Museum II-A-6711 possible seal stomach bag

Alaska State Museum II-A-6711 detail

Alaska State Museum II-A-5416 walrus stomach drum made by Sam Hunter of Hooper Bay c. 1946

Alaska State Museum II-A-5416 repair

Alaska State Museum II-A-5416 repair2

A museum conservator recently said,

“Gutskin is a material whose time has come.”   

She meant, those of us who are tasked with the preservation and treatment of cultural heritage made of internal mammal tissues understand precious little about the material and the time is ripe for us to put in a concerted effort to know more.  Graduate students at New York University and the UCLA Getty conservation programs have recently raised questions about gutskin artifacts they were seeking to treat.  Staff installing Smithsonian collections in new Arctic Studies Center exhibits in Anchorage, Alaska have found the identification of tissues on several artifacts quite perplexing.  Alaska State Museum has been pondering the unique properties of this material and its treatment as well.

Shown is a gallery of some intriguing artifacts in the Alaska State Museum collection.  Click on the image to enlarge.

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