Historically, whalers and other traders in the Canadian Arctic created a demand for decorated items from the Inuit such as cribbage boards, incised walrus tusks, and chess sets. With increasing Southern contact, production of the game pieces persisted into the period of commercial art making in the 1950s. By the 1960s, Pacome Kolaut had established himself as one of the foremost carvers of chess sets, receiving numerous commissions including one that was presented to the Queen. In examining the present set, it is easy to understand why Kolaut’s craftsmanship was highly sought after. Despite their small size, the figures themselves are executed with a high level of vigour, and they appear to have been carved for display as much as they were for use. The kings and queens are a quartet of sensitively rendered Inuit figures who wear traditional clothing. Each side is supported by a menagerie of Arctic animals, including seated polar bears as bishops, corpulent resting walruses as knights, swimming whales as rooks, and a pod of seals as pawns. To differentiate the opposing sides, the figures are supported on either ivory or stone bases.

References: For similar chess sets by the artist see Christie, Manson and Woods (Canada), May 8, 1975, Lot 163; and Waddington’s, Toronto, 18 Nov 2013, Lot 239. Inuit chess sets have been carved in a variety of styles, and subject matter. For a quite different example see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 513, p. 195. For a 19th century example, see Jessie McNab Dennis and Charles K. Wilkinson, Chess: East and West, Past and Present, (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968), fig. 96. See Pacome Kolaut’s famous work in Bear Hunt (Canadian Museum of History, Artifact no. IV-C-3610, reproduced in Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), pl. 26, p. 38.