Although unsigned, this magnificent transformation is almost certainly the work of Kiugak Ashoona, carved at what was arguably the high point of his lengthy career. The precision in the rendering of the facial features is remarkably similar to that of Kiugak’s famous Taleelayuk (1958) which was used by Canada Post on a 17-cent stamp in 1977. It also exhibits the same quality and poise of Kneeling Woman (1960) in the collection of the Canadian Museum of History. The exotic subject matter is also typical of Kiugak’s works of the early 1960s; see Howling Spirit (Tornrak) and Its Young (cover image of the famous Sculpture/Inuit catalogue), or the magnificent Growling Lion of 1965 in the collection of the WAG.

Literature: For important spirit and transformation sculptures by Kiugak (including the works cited above) see Darlene Coward Wight, Kiugak Ashoona: Stories and Imaginings from Cape Dorset (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2010), pp. pp. 77, 83, 95, 100, 115. See also Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture/Inuit (U of T Press, 1971), cover and cat. 344; George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit (Toronto: M&S, 1972/92), figs. 31, 481, 482; Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, Nov. 2015, Lot 38.