This polar bear figurine is carved from whalebone. Fresh whalebone can't be used because it's too oily (and smelly!) and it splinters when artists try to carve it. The older the whalebone, the better it is for carving.

The Inuit people regard the polar bear, 'Nanuk', as the most prized animal they hunt. They are thought to be wise and powerful, and almost a man. Hunting is regulated but when polar bears are killed their meat is eaten and the fur is used to make clothes.

A collection of Inuit models, including this figurine, was donated to the Bristol Institution for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1868, before it was reincarnated as the Museum and Library in 1872 and then as the Museum & Art Gallery in 1905. In 1868 the Institution was based at the bottom of Park Street, in a building now known as the Freemasons Hall.