This lovely ivory bear is a wonderful portrayal of the subject and is not unlike the naturalistic depictions of arctic fauna that had been traded with whalers and missionaries since the earliest days of the Historic Period. The sense of restraint and hesitancy that makes this bear so charming would not last many more years; flamboyant spirituality would soon become the hallmark of works from Taloyoak and eventually the entire Kitikmeot region.

Literature: For an ivory polar bear from Cape Dorset from 1925 see Jean Blodgett, “The Historic Period in Inuit Art” in Alma Houston, editor, Inuit Art: An Anthology (Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer, 1988), p. 22. For contemporaneous polar bears from other communities see Sandra Dyck and Ingo Hessel, Sanattiaqsimajut: Inuit Art from the Carleton University Art Gallery Collection (Ottawa: CUAG, 2009), cats. 94-95, pp. 164-165.