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    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: POSSIBLY ELIJASSIAPIK (1912-1972) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON), Polar Bear, mid 1950s
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: POSSIBLY ELIJASSIAPIK (1912-1972) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON), Polar Bear, mid 1950s
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: POSSIBLY ELIJASSIAPIK (1912-1972) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON), Polar Bear, mid 1950s
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: POSSIBLY ELIJASSIAPIK (1912-1972) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON), Polar Bear, mid 1950s
    Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: POSSIBLY ELIJASSIAPIK (1912-1972) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON), Polar Bear, mid 1950s

    POSSIBLY ELIJASSIAPIK (1912-1972) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON)

    Polar Bear, mid 1950s
    stone and ivory, 3 x 6.5 x 2.25 in (7.6 x 16.5 x 5.7 cm)
    unsigned.
    LOT 3
    ESTIMATE: $1,000 — $1,500
    PRICE REALIZED: $2,928.00

    Further images

    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) HISTORIC PERIOD INUIT ARTIST, EASTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC, Whistle, 1935 or earlier
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) HISTORIC PERIOD INUIT ARTIST, EASTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC, Whistle, 1935 or earlier
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 3 ) HISTORIC PERIOD INUIT ARTIST, EASTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC, Whistle, 1935 or earlier
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 4 ) HISTORIC PERIOD INUIT ARTIST, EASTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC, Whistle, 1935 or earlier
    • (View a larger image of thumbnail 5 ) HISTORIC PERIOD INUIT ARTIST, EASTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC, Whistle, 1935 or earlier
    • Polar Bear
    There has been much discussion regarding the identity of the carver of this fine polar bear, which certainly shows a strong family resemblance to early 1950s works by the great...
    Read more

    There has been much discussion regarding the identity of the carver of this fine polar bear, which certainly shows a strong family resemblance to early 1950s works by the great Elijassiapik. [1] While its authorship is uncertain, there is no doubt about the incredible beauty of this sculpture. The combination of the gorgeous marbled green stone used in these years and the brilliant execution of the bear is pure magic. Ivory was used only for the fine set of teeth; we can’t help wondering whether the bear is snarling or smiling.


    1. See First Arts, 13 July 2021, Lot 21, and Darlene Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006), p. 88, and elsewhere.
    Close full details

    Provenance

    Collected by a federal government administrator during his travels in the Eastern Arctic in the 1950s;
    by descent in the family.
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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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