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Artworks
UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, GREENLAND
Tupilak, early 1970sivory and black inlay, 5 x 2 x 3 in (12.7 x 5.1 x 7.6 cm)
unsigned.
LOT 130
ESTIMATE: $500 — $800Further images
The first tupilak figurines were made of wood. Stone, ivory, antler, and even imported cow horn were eventually utilized for commercial sale. The most well-known and popular examples are carved...The first tupilak figurines were made of wood. Stone, ivory, antler, and even imported cow horn were eventually utilized for commercial sale. The most well-known and popular examples are carved from sperm whale teeth; this is what gives them their distinctive curved, conical shape.
For a discussion of tupilak figures see Birte Haagen, Tupilaks: Magical Figures from Greenland, (Virum: Tinok, 2014); see also Bodil Kaalund, The Art of Greenland: Sculpture, Crafts, Painting (Berkeley: University of California Press), p. 67-74.
Provenance
Private Collection, British Columbia;
Acquired form the above by the present Toronto Collection.
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