ANDY MIKI (1918-1983) ARVIAT (ESKIMO POINT)
signed, "ᒥᑭ".
ESTIMATE: $3,000 — $5,000
PRICE REALIZED: $4,392.00
Further images
Andy Miki’s small, enigmatic or quirky animal carvings are central to his canon of work. This Standing Animal, carved from a dense stone with subtle details and appendages is no exception. In Miki’s gentle hands, this almost minimalist animal form has movement and even a sense of elegance to the pose. The animal - possibly a siksik (ground squirrel)? - rears up on its hind legs to catch a scent. With its still slight sense of naturalistic form, this charming sculpture likely dates from just after Miki’s move from Whale Cove to Arviat in the late sixties.
References: For important works carved while Miki was living in Whale Cove in the mid 1960s see Maria von Finckenstein, editor, Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1999) p. 153 (Dog) [correct dimensions 34.5 x 10 x 31.5 cm]; Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture/Inuit, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971) cat. 147 (Caribou Head), also illustrated in George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92) fig. 86, and in Norman Zepp, Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit, (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1986) cat. 4; Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, May 2017, Lot 27 (Animal); and Walker’s Auctions, November 2016, Lot 18 (Animal).
Provenance
Waddington's, Toronto, 26 November 2020, Lot 64;Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Ontario.
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