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Artworks
UNIDENTIFIED INUIT ARTIST, PROBABLY KUUJJUARAAPIK (GREAT WHALE RIVER)
Hunter And Birds, early 1950sstone, soap, and antler, 3.25 x 7.75 x 2.5 in (8.3 x 19.7 x 6.3 cm)
unsigned.LOT 81
ESTIMATE: $800 — $1,200Further images
This charming composition dates to the very early 1950s. Were it not for the typical Sanikiluaq (Belcher Islands) stone, we might be forgiven for assuming that it was produced in...This charming composition dates to the very early 1950s. Were it not for the typical Sanikiluaq (Belcher Islands) stone, we might be forgiven for assuming that it was produced in Inukjuak (then Port Harrison) due to the circle and dot decoration and soap inlay. We think it’s quite possible that the artist hailed from Kuujjuarapik, Sanikiluaq’s “sister community” on the mainland. This would explain both the Sanikiluaq stone and the stylistic influence from Inukjuak, just up the coast. What makes this work so delightful is that, far from looking like a hunting scene, it looks almost like a child urging on his team of sled-geese!
References: For charming early 1950s depictions of birds from Sanikiluaq see Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Phoenix: Heard Museum, 2006), cat. 76, p. 87.Provenance
Private Collection, Montreal.
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