Wonderful Inuit Carved Stone Janus Faced Sculpture cast bust a mother and child

a mother and child

I think fairly old and likely Italian

or Unicorn of the Sea

Victorian era American

but still holding on to much of its original paint

Wonderful Inuit Carved Stone Janus Faced Sculpture cast bust a mother and childThis I think is my favorite Inuit piece I've had in my possession bold, sensitive, a little awkward, mystical feeling, intense and very human. I'm drawn to Inuit pieces that hold multiple gestures or states of being in balance, and this Janus faced piece is literally double sided, with a skeletal shaped head with outlined eyes inverse to a smiling, contented looking one with horizontal slits across the eyes (resting? wearing snow goggles? all seeing?)