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Lot description
JOSIAH NUILAALIK (1928-2005), E2-385, BAKER LAKE / QAMANI’TUAQPOLAR BEARstone, soap inlay, signed in syllabics, early 1960’s9" x 5" x 2.5" — 22.9 x 12.7 x 6.4 cm.Provenance:Acquired by an RCMP officer who was stationed in the area from 1962-1963.Literature:W.T. Larmour, Eskimo Carvers of Keewatin, N.W.T., Winnipeg Art Gallery & the federal Department of Transport and the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1964, exh. cat., page 6.Note:The first exhibition of Baker Lake artwork in the South was held in 1964. The exhibition catalogue provides some context for the artwork of this time period. When the first carvings began to appear in late 1959 “something else, quite remarkable, became discernible.” The Inuit “had succeeded not only in making acceptable carvings but in astonishing one another by doing so. They came in groups, singly and in pairs to examine each other’s carvings. ‘One hears that Nooeelarlik (Nuilaalik) has made a new carving. May we see it please?’ Much time was spent in discussion of the new carvings. Was the form of this musk ox correct? ‘The form of that owl reminds me of the one I saw last winter near the Kazan River.’” Estimate: $1,000—1,500