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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s

GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)

Muskox, early 1960s
stone and musk horn, 4.5 x 8.25 x 1.5 in (11.4 x 21 x 3.8 cm)
inscribed with partial disc number, "2 179";
signed indistinctly.
LOT 8
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
PRICE REALIZED: $1,830.00

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) GEORGE TATANNIQ (1910-1991) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE), Muskox, early 1960s
The muskox was a favoured subject that Tatanniq revisited regularly throughout his career. This lovely example was carved in a soft, semi-translucent stone that was used briefly in the very...
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The muskox was a favoured subject that Tatanniq revisited regularly throughout his career. This lovely example was carved in a soft, semi-translucent stone that was used briefly in the very early 1960s until Qamani’tuaq carvers discovered more suitable grey and black varieties. As a result, its sculptural forms are gently rounded rather than crisply executed, as Tatanniq’s subsequent examples would be. Already, however, we see the artist’s signature style here: elegant, sweeping lines and a delicate treatment of the animal’s legs, head, and inset horns. Like all the best sculptures by Tatanniq, Muskox exudes an air of serenity and calm. Gorgeous.


A superficially quite similar example by Tatanniq’s colleague Dominic Kingilik was inadvertently attributed to Tatanniq and published as such in Norman Zepp’s 1986 Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit catalogue (cat. 65, p. 122). Subsequent research by Zepp has corrected the misattribution. We are grateful to Norman for his advice and opinion regarding a firm attribution to Tatanniq for the current work. It seems likely that Kingilik copied this beautiful sculpture by Tatanniq to create his own version.


References: For other fine muskoxen by George Tatanniq see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), pl. 84, p. 105; Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture / Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), fig. 112; Jean Blodgett, Selections from The John and Mary Robertson Collection of Inuit Sculpture, (Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1986), cat. 12, p. 33. See the section on the artist in Norman Zepp, Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit, (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1986), pp. 120-129. George Swinton, Sculpture of Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 701; Walker’s Auctions, Nov. 2012, Lot 43; and First Arts, 12 July 2020, Lot 58.

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Provenance

Collection of John & Joyce Price, Seattle, WA.
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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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