Lot 58
DOMINIC KINGILIK (1939-1990), QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
Muskox, c. 1964
stone and antler, 5.5 x 10 x 3.5 in (14 x 25.4 x 8.9 cm)
unsigned.
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
PRICE REALIZED: $3,360
Provenance
Private Collection, British Columbia.
Among animal subjects the muskox probably vies with birds as the most popular among Baker Lake artists, and it is the animal that is most associated with the Baker Lake sculptural aesthetic. Rustic in conception, this superb early example by Dominic Kingilik emphasizes the bulky mass of the animal; other artists such as George Tatanniq would take a more streamlined approach. Kingilik, who was barely in his twenties when he began carving, quickly became one of the most well respected Baker Lake carvers of the early 1960s; fifteen works by him were included in the 1964 Eskimo Carvers of the Keewatin N.W.T. exhibition sponsored by the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
References: For similarly fine examples of muskoxen by the artist see George Swinton, Sculpture of Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 701; and Walker's Auctions, Nov. 2012, Lot 43. See also the extraordinary Walking Woman by Kingilik in this auction (Lot 97).