More than virtually work we have seen by this famous pioneer artist, Hunter Pursuing a Seal feels like a narrative hunting scene. The great majority of depictions of hunters by Akeeaktashuk show the human subject poised to throw a harpoon or spear, but alone. Of the works that depict hunter and prey mounted on a base, the image usually feels more symbolic than narrative; there is seldom a real sense of interaction between them. With Hunter Pursuing a Seal, the hunter’s weapon is aimed down not out; it’s a subtle distinction, but it works to convey movement in real time, rather than the “timelessness” of Akeeaktashuk’s other depictions. The hunter’s eyes appear to follow this downward trajectory as well, and his open mouth adds to the feeling of excitement. For its part, the seal appears to be trying to make its escape off the ice floe.

In other respects, this work is classic Akeeaktashuk. It is carved with robust elegance, nicely polished, and inlaid with soap as was the fashion at the time in the early years of Inukjuak art. We have dated Hunter Pursuing a Seal to early in Akeeaktashuk’s career, likely 1951 or possibly earlier. Stylistically it reminds us very much of the artist’s Hunter and Walrus dated to c. 1950, formerly in the John and Mary Robertson Collection (see Jean Blodgett’s 1986 catalogue, cat. 31, p. 52, and Walker’s Auctions, 13 Nov. 2011, Lot 33).

References: For the noted composition by Akeeaktashuk, dated c. 1950, see Jean Blodgett, Selections from The John and Mary Robertson Collection of Inuit Sculpture, (Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1986), cat. 31, p. 52 (also illustrated in Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, 13 November 2011, Lot 33); For a similarly posed Hunter and Bear mounted on a base by the artist from 1950 in the TD Bank Collection, see Darlene Coward Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006), p. 31; for other examples of the artist’s work see Gerald McMaster, ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), cat. 6; for a similarly posed Hunter by the artist from c. 1950-51 see First Arts, Toronto, 1 December 2020, Lot 24.