The muskox was a favoured subject that Tatanniq revisited regularly throughout his career. This lovely example was carved in a soft, semi-translucent stone that was used briefly in the very early 1960s until Qamani’tuaq carvers discovered more suitable grey and black varieties. As a result, its sculptural forms are gently rounded rather than crisply executed, as Tatanniq’s subsequent examples would be. Already, however, we see the artist’s signature style here: elegant, sweeping lines and a delicate treatment of the animal’s legs, head, and inset horns. Like all the best sculptures by Tatanniq, Muskox exudes an air of serenity and calm. Gorgeous.

A superficially quite similar example by Tatanniq’s colleague Dominic Kingilik was inadvertently attributed to Tatanniq and published as such in Norman Zepp’s 1986 Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit catalogue (cat. 65, p. 122). Subsequent research by Zepp has corrected the misattribution. We are grateful to Norman for his advice and opinion regarding a firm attribution to Tatanniq for the current work. It seems likely that Kingilik copied this beautiful sculpture by Tatanniq to create his own version.

References: For other fine muskoxen by George Tatanniq see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), pl. 84, p. 105; Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture / Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), fig. 112; Jean Blodgett, Selections from The John and Mary Robertson Collection of Inuit Sculpture, (Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1986), cat. 12, p. 33. See the section on the artist in Norman Zepp, Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit, (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1986), pp. 120-129. George Swinton, Sculpture of Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 701; Walker’s Auctions, Nov. 2012, Lot 43; and First Arts, 12 July 2020, Lot 58.