Kutchaka is not a “household name” in Inuit art circles and may never have been highly prolific. He began carving at least as early as 1950, however, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery holds several fine works by Kutchaka in its collection (see Jean Blodgett, Port Harrison/Inoucdjouac, 1977, cats. 42-46); various works are illustrated in George Swinton’s books and elsewhere (see online references). Also intriguingly, a wonderful Match Holder with Bear and Human Heads from 1950 (see Darlene Wight, Early Masters, WAG, 2006, p. 33), now attributed to Akeeaktashuk, was once attributed to Kutchaka. Kutchaka and his family lived at the Hopewell Narrows camp south of Inukjuak, only moving into the community in the mid 1960s.

This kneeling Mother Nursing a Child is the most beautiful work we know of by this artist. Its lovely compact composition, sensitively rendered features and forms, and refined workmanship are reminiscent of early masterpieces by Isa Smiler (see First Arts, 14 June 2022, Lot 21, and Wight, Early Masters, 2006, pp. 92-95). We love the way in which the swaddled infant is framed by the mother’s arms and the folds of her loosened amautiq, and especially admire the mother’s beautifully modeled head with its delicate face and quite remarkably stylized hairdo. A treasure.