Archive II

Mythological Ainu bear.

You can see my earlier post about this bear here and,
something completely diffirent, a post about a polar bear here.

The Bear

What do you think of our latest Ebay find?

It's probably Japanese although it was sold as a Schwarzwalder (German) carving.
I think this must be an Ainu bear from Hokkaido.
The bear is carrying a big skewered fish on a wooden branch.
The Ainu considered the bear the mythological hero that taught them to fish, hunt, weave and so on.

I was searching for a Ainu bear for a while because I think the quality of the Ainu carving is excellent!
Kitka triggered me. Kitka is one of my favourite blogs and they have an online shop called Mjölk.
Just like Juli and John, I love Scandinavian and Japanese design.

Our bear isn't marked, has no signs what so ever.

One minor detail is the awkward scent of the wood.

Hopefully this smell will dissappear eventually.