Frankenpoon

Chert, antler, whalebone

If Frankenstein worked in whalebone, sealskin, and chert instead of corpses, he might have pieced together a harpoon like this.  This composite design harpoon intentionally melds together stylistic forms from the Eastern Arctic and Newfoundland and Labrador into one piece with many different parts.  

At this stage the endblade is done and the antler harpoon head is blocked out, according to the reference drawing by the client.

With a little more work done on it, the endblade and harpoon head remind me of those kid's flip books with the split pages where you mix and match the pictures so you can see a giraffe's head on a lion's body with a peacock's tail.  The tip of the harpoon is Middle Dorset, with a tip fluted endblade, although the endblade base is not a Dorset style.  The mid section of the toggling harpoon head, where the endblade meets the harpoon head, is modeled on Groswater Palaeoeskimo artifacts, but the base of the harpoon head, with the double line holes and symmetrical basal spurs is Late Dorset in design.  By the time its all done there will be some Thule Inuit design elements and Beothuk aspects built into the mix.

This one's for Steve.  There's my signature "TR" in the lower right corner - just for you.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast