Native American/Arctic Indigenous Peoples - a pair of early ...

Hammer

£260

Native American/Arctic Indigenous Peoples - a pair of early 20th century Inuit hide and softwood models, of fishermen in kayaks, with raft, creel and carved seals, 53.5cm long, collected by Cyril John Hayward Day during a trip to Greenland c.1914: an interesting archive relating to Day's travels and early life, including photographs of him in his naval uniform, his oilskins and as a boy; his Royal Navy Protection and Identity Certificate; letters and correspondence, including his notes on translation and attempts to learn the Inuit language; a sketch entitled An Indian Love Letter, with a thorough explanation to verso outlining that 'the canoe signifies he has travelled far with nine men represented by the upright lines', 'he has travelled three nights and 3 days represented by the three moons and three horizons' and that 'he is a mighty chief having much wealth and abundant means, signified by [a] circle around his stomach....'; passports, later diaries and pocket books; a family photograph album; further personal ephemera (qty) Cyril John Hayward Day was born at Warminster in 1892 and trained as an engineer, going to sea in a ship's engine room and serving as Engine Room Artificer 4th Class on board HMS Bellerophon during World War I. A lengthy letter offered as part of the present lot gives an insight into life on board ship on a trip to Greenland just before the outbreak of the First World War. Here he talks of the frustrating time spent at Dungenes waiting for the wind to change (he spends one afternoon 'sitting in a coil of rope reading') and loading up with 'tobacco for the natives' before eventually getting off, going on to describe his arrival at 'Cape Farewell' and setting out for the next port ('name unspellable to me'). Conditions are illustrated in his description of having to get his hair cut as it 'might get inhabited if it gets too long' and his assertion that 'you don't know what cold is in England'