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    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, Possibly KIMMIRUT (LAKE HARBOUR), Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear, c. 1951-52
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, Possibly KIMMIRUT (LAKE HARBOUR), Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear, c. 1951-52
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, Possibly KIMMIRUT (LAKE HARBOUR), Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear, c. 1951-52
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, Possibly KIMMIRUT (LAKE HARBOUR), Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear, c. 1951-52
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, Possibly KIMMIRUT (LAKE HARBOUR), Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear, c. 1951-52

    UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, Possibly KIMMIRUT (LAKE HARBOUR)

    Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear, c. 1951-52
    ivory, stone, black and red pigments, 4 x 1.5 x 1.5 in (10.2 x 3.8 x 3.8 cm)
    apparently unsigned.

    LOT 3
    ESTIMATE: $1,200 — $1,800
    PRICE REALIZED: $1,320.00

    Further images

    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) TUMIRA ASHOONA (1943-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Inukshoo, 1964 (1964/5 #81)
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) TUMIRA ASHOONA (1943-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Inukshoo, 1964 (1964/5 #81)
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) TUMIRA ASHOONA (1943-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Inukshoo, 1964 (1964/5 #81)
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) TUMIRA ASHOONA (1943-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Inukshoo, 1964 (1964/5 #81)
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) TUMIRA ASHOONA (1943-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Inukshoo, 1964 (1964/5 #81)
    • Needle Case with Head of a Polar Bear
    James Houston included a drawing of a bear-headed ivory needle case on page 7 of his 1951 booklet Sanajasak: Eskimo Handicrafts, which was written to give ideas and tips to...
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    James Houston included a drawing of a bear-headed ivory needle case on page 7 of his 1951 booklet Sanajasak: Eskimo Handicrafts, which was written to give ideas and tips to Inuit carvers and craftspeople. The booklet was distributed throughout Nunavik (Arctic Quebec) and elsewhere then withdrawn, but not before numerous works inspired by Houston’s drawings had been carved. The artist who created this exquisite Needle Case followed the overall form of Houston’s drawing but not its engraved design, choosing rather the curious “bush” design seen in other of Houston’s drawings. Furthermore, the artist invented a stone base that allows the object to function as a “sculpture.”


    References: For Houston’s drawing, see James Houston, Sanajasak (Sunuyusuk): Eskimo Handicrafts, (Montreal: Canadian Handicrafts Guild and the Department of Resources and Development, 1951), p. 7. Houston’s drawing and an Inukjuak example (possibly a prototype) are likewise illustrated in Darlene Coward Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006), p. 14. and Darlene Coward Wight, The First Passionate Collector: Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990), fig. 8, p. 54 and cat. 20, p. 102. For the “bush” design, see Early Masters, p. 26-7.
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    Provenance

    Important Private Collection, Canada. 
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FIRST ARTS PREMIERS INC.  
Nadine Di Monte   |    647-286-5012   |    info@firstarts.ca 

Ingo Hessel  |    613-818-2100   |    ingo@firstarts.ca

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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