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Artworks
JAMES UNGALAQ (1964- ) IGLULIK (IGLOOLIK)
Mask, 1990stone and bear teeth, 10 x 6.25 x 2.5 in (25.4 x 15.9 x 6.3 cm), measurements reflect dimensions without acrylic stand.
apparently unsigned.LOT 148
ESTIMATE: $4,000 — $6,000
Further images
The polar bear has been an animal of particular importance to shamanistic practice in the Canadian Arctic as early as the Dorset Culture (Paleo-Eskimo) period. [1] In Inuit times, bears...The polar bear has been an animal of particular importance to shamanistic practice in the Canadian Arctic as early as the Dorset Culture (Paleo-Eskimo) period. [1] In Inuit times, bears have long been seen as powerful spirit helpers. Shamans sometimes used false teeth as “props” during performances and séances, and images of fanged shamans appear occasionally in modern Inuit art. [2] Though titled Mask, Ungalaq’s remarkable work is really a stone sculpture: a compelling portrait of a fierce bear-shaman. The artist has incorporated actual polar bear teeth, investing this work with added spiritual potency.1. For a set of shaman’s teeth from the Dorset Culture see Jean Blodgett, The Coming and Going of the Shaman, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978), cat. 111, p. 165. Note: this set was found near Igloolik.
2. See Lot 9 in this auction. See also First Arts, 4 December 2023, Lot 61; and 12 June 2023, Lot 13.
References: For other impressive works by the artist see Walker’s Auctions, 4 November 2012, Lot 150, and Walker’s Auctions, 18 November 2015, Lot 240. See also Barry Ace and July Papatsie, Transitions: Contemporary Canadian Indian and Inuit Art, (Ottawa: Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1997), p. 61.Provenance
Images Art Gallery, Toronto, ON;
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Toronto.Exhibitions
Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Palazzo Forti, Immaginario Inuit: Arte e Cultura degli Esquimesi Canadesi, 19 March - 9 July 1995, cat. no. 37Publications
Harold Seidelman & James Turner, The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculpture, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1993), fig. 135, p. 147;
Immaginario Inuit: Arte e Cultura degli Esquimesi Canadesi (Verona: Palazzo Forti, 1995), cat. no. 37, p. 101.
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