TUNA IQULIQ (1934-2015) QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
possibly signed in syllabics, obscured by affixed base.
LOT 114
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
Further images
This intriguing sculpture by Iquliq might simply depict a mother or father carrying a child, in which case it is an unusually charming and almost sentimental carving by an artist not known for such imagery. The figure in front seems almost to float, which makes us wonder if there might be a possible shamanic interpretation of the work, or at least a spiritual one. Perhaps the two figures are a shaman and apprentice (who could, of course, still be a child). The antler object held by the larger figure doesn’t look like a utensil; it could simply be a piece of antler, or a carving of a bird or a fish, or a more mysterious object.
Literature: For nine early 1970s works by Iquliq see Art Gallery of Ontario, The People Within (Toronto: AGO, 1976), cats. 57-65. For early 1960s works by the artist see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit (McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), figs. 22, 23, 110, 666-672, and Winnipeg Art Gallery, Eskimo Carvers of Keewatin N.W.T. (1964) front cover and pp. 20, 21, 26. For contemporaneous works by the artist see The Guild Shop, Tuna Iquliq: Recent Sculpture (Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers, 1979). A similar work titled Man with Bird by Iquliq, dated 1978, was acquired for the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada collection and illustrated in their About Arts and Crafts newsletter (Autumn 1978), p. 20.
Provenance
Private Collection, Montreal;Walker's Auction, 15 November 2014, Lot 93;
Acquired from the above the present Private Collection, Toronto.
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