Evocative 1877 Plaster Portrait Mold of Bearded Gentleman wooden envelope Signed (incised) on the underside

Signed (incised) on the underside but indecipherable

My guess is that it comes from the Baker Lake region of the Kivalliq Region

and happily so

In this one

The armadillo measures 7 1/2" long x 1 3/4" tall x 1 3/8" wide

Evocative 1877 Plaster Portrait Mold of Bearded Gentleman wooden envelope Signed (incised) on the undersideI think I'd be way less interested in the cast plaster portraits created from this than I am in the mold itself, which I find super evocative and a bit haunting too, with all of its patina now making it feel a bit like a momento mori. I don't know who this man was, but there is a date of 1877 carved into the back. Around the perimeter is an old iron wire holding it together one assumes added at the time it cracked along his shoulder with a beautiful