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Artworks
UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, NUNAVIK (ARCTIC QUEBEC)
Kneeling Woman with Ulu and Face Tattoos, c. 1950sstone, bone, ivory, and graphite, 4.5 x 4.25 x 3.5 in (11.4 x 10.8 x 8.9 cm)
unsigned.LOT 76
ESTIMATE: $1,500 — $2,500Further images
This compact sculpture is rich with visual cues that speak to cultural specificity. The figure’s face, delicately inlaid and engraved with traditional facial tattoos, clearly marks the subject as a...This compact sculpture is rich with visual cues that speak to cultural specificity. The figure’s face, delicately inlaid and engraved with traditional facial tattoos, clearly marks the subject as a woman. These tattoos, stylized lines in graphite that extend from from the lips to her chin and across the cheeks, are not merely decorative but are deeply symbolic, tied to identity, lineage, and lived experience. With an ulu in hand, she leans slightly forward, as if caught mid-action—perhaps just about to begin preparing an unseen feast laid out before her.
Provenance
Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver;
Acquired from the above by John & Joyce Price, Seattle, WA, July 2000, as "Unidentified, Western Arctic" and "c. 1950".
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