Had this exquisite Mother Holding a Child not been clearly signed with the initials “S.Q.” we would almost surely have attributed it to Silas’s wife Miriam. As with several other Inuit “carving couples” such as the Anowtaliks and Hallauks of Arviat, Silas and Miriam happily worked together and sometimes even helped to finish each other’s carvings; thus, specific authorship based on style can be hard to determine with absolute certainty. This problem is often exacerbated by the fact that unsigned pieces brought to the co-op were often hastily signed by whichever spouse brought them in, regardless of whether he/she was the artist. Scholarly debate aside, this strikingly lovely and wonderfully tender Mother Holding a Child is “classic Qiyuk.” The beautiful echoing round shapes of the figures’ heads and arms are marvelous, and we love the way that the child’s gaze tilts ever so slightly away from the mother’s. The marks of the artist’s tools are clearly seen but the darker, more polished areas may be evidence of repeated handling by a loving owner.

References: For other examples of figural works by Miriam Qiyuk see Darlene Coward Wight, Creation and Transformation: Defining Moments in Inuit Art, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2012), cat. 90; Bernadette Driscoll, The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood To Be Full, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1980), p. 86-87; Canadian Arctic Art Museum Ltd., Arctic Art Masterworks: Selections from the Balshine Collection of Sculpture by Inuit, (Vancouver: 1998); see also First Arts, Toronto, 1 December 2020, Lot 30.