An Inuit serpentine carving, of a hunter in a kayak with seal bodies on the deck, with bone paddle, harpoon, gaff and leather thongs. Provenance: Gifted to the vendor's father, a doctor practicing between 1954-58 at the Mountain Sanatorium ('The San') an isolation hospital for tuberculosis (TB) at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Inuit patients who were resident for treatment periods of around two months used serpentine gathered from a lake and creeks within the grounds of The San, as material for these carvings, which were then gifted to staff in appreciation for their recovery from TB. Length 30 cm