Description: An Eskimo butchering knife, 19th century. Bone and copper. Eskimo knives used in butchering and for other household purposes were variously made from flint, slate, ivory bone, native copper and trade metal. There were few fighting weapons in theArctic and this shows the relatively minor importance attached to war. Survival in th Arctic required a considerable degree of cooperation and there was little opportunity or encouragement for protracted warfare. Provenance : Lord Alistair MacAlpine (1942-2014) Bibliographical Reference: Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas: The James Hooper Collection, by Steven Phelps, London, p. 285.