Figures by Pangnark with any sort of attachment are extremely rare. In fact, the only other example that comes to mind is Figure with Amulet, dated 1976 but likely carved somewhat earlier, exhibited in the 1985 Winnipeg Art Gallery show Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art. [1] In that sculpture the ivory amulet is almost certainly in the form of a bear’s head. In our example the antler accessory is more amorphous in shape, club-like rather than knife-like. While its use or meaning remains enigmatic, the figure’s gesture is positively emphatic. The figure brandishes the object like a weapon; his minimalist facial features assume an almost malevolent intensity. Remarkable.

1. Bernadette Driscoll, Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985), cat. 87, p. 98.