Artworks

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UNIDENTIFIED INUIT ARTIST, CENTRAL CANADIAN ARCTIC, Siksik (Arctic Ground Squirrel), early 1950s

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UNIDENTIFIED INUIT ARTIST, CENTRAL CANADIAN ARCTIC

Siksik (Arctic Ground Squirrel), early 1950s

ivory, black inlay, and red pigment, 1 x 2.75 x 1 in (2.5 x 7 x 2.5 cm)
unsigned.

LOT 142
ESTIMATE: $700 — $1,000
PRICE REALIZED: $610.00

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The petite scale of miniature works in Inuit art has always been a source of delight and enjoyment. How further pleasing then, to have such personality within a work as...

The petite scale of miniature works in Inuit art has always been a source of delight and enjoyment. How further pleasing then, to have such personality within a work as well! This Siksik (Arctic Ground Squirrel) is as dynamic as he is darling, leaning back on his paws and with his fur puffed up against the cold, or an unseen antagonist. The inlay details of the paws and face further give action and movement to this endearing little sculpture, one of the most charming of its type we have ever seen.

References: For brief introductions to carved ivory miniatures, see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), pgs. 16-27. See also Jean Blodgett, Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983), p. 250-251. See also Winnipeg Art Gallery, Inuit Ivories From The Collection, (Winnipeg, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1992). For further, charming examples of ivory miniatures, see the First Arts exhibition, Little Worlds: The Norman Hallendy Collection of Ivory Miniatures, 1 November 20219. See a variety of ivory miniatures from Repulse Bay in Jean Blodgett, Repulse Bay, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978). See a variety of early ivory miniatures in Walker’s Auctions, 13 Nov. 2011, Lot 66.

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Provenance

Collected by a federal government administrator during his travels in the Eastern and Central Arctic in the 1940s and 1950s;
by descent in the family.

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FIRST ARTS PREMIERS INC.
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The main office of First Arts Premiers Inc. is located on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat, the original owners and custodians of this land. Today, it is home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

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