While Barnabus Arnasungaaq carved a wide variety of subject matter over his extraordinarily long career, his muskoxen were an oft repeated and beloved subject matter. At times, the popularity of “Barnabus Muskoxen'' vied for the same need evoked by “Pauta Bears.” Arguably, Arnasungaaq perfected his rendering of them in the mid 1970s, giving them an especially gentle demeanour and sensitivity in this decade. This Muskox stands, almost mid-stride, with its head tilted towards the viewer with a sense of curiosity. The delicate facial features, a charming signature of Arnasungaaq’s works, peer out from the stone with the barest hint of a smile. The animal’s shaggy fur is carefully incised into the stone and sweeps back gently in the breeze. We also have a rare addition to this work, in the form of a set of horns separately carved from antler. While Barnabus normally depicted horns as a subtly carved aspect integral to the stone, these horns act almost like a topper, adding a bit of zing to the lovely sculpture.

References: For two excellent and probably roughly contemporaneous examples by the artist in the Twomey Collection at the Winnipeg Art Gallery see Bernadette Driscoll, Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, (WAG, 1985) cats. 9 and 10. For similarly impressive examples see Susan Gustavison, Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture, (Kleinburg: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1999), cat. 39, p. 123; Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), fig. 83, p. 104; Sandra Dyck and Ingo Hessel, Sanattiaqsimajut: Inuit Art from the Carleton University Art Gallery Collection, (Ottawa: Carleton University Art Gallery, 2009), cat. 10, p. 154; See also First Arts Auction, 14 June 2022, Lot 114.