JOE TALIRUNILI (1893-1976) PUVIRNITUQ (POVUNGNITUK)
Mother and Child, with Pail and Ulu, late 1960s
stone, sealskin, and antler, 8.5 x 4 x 3.25 in (21.6 x 10.2 x 8.3 cm)
signed, "JOE".

Provenance
Private Collection, Montreal;
by descent to the Present Private Collection, Montreal.

Just as with his depictions of single hunters and owls, no two of Joe Talirunili’s female subjects look the same. He managed to imbue each subject with a distinctive look and personality. In addition, some carry children while others hold various implements. Talirunili’s carvings of women may be portraits of ones he especially admired. Apparently, Talirunili was known locally as something of a woman chaser [1]!

Mother and Child, with Pail and Ulu is one of the loveliest examples we have seen. It is well known that Talirunili’s carving style was “rough and ready” to say the least; many of his peers wondered why on earth qallunaat seemed to like it so much. But in this case the artist lavished special attention on the portrait of a young woman. Her facial features, with unforgettable large eyes, are beautifully delineated, as is her lovely, braided hair. The child’s head, popping up from the mother’s hood, is also expressively carved. And care has been paid to the mother’s clothing and even her implements. Bravo, Joe.

1. Myers, Joe Talirunili: “A Grace Beyond the Reach of Art” ,1977, p. 5.

References: Several examples of standing women by Talirunili are reproduced in the landmark monograph by Marybelle Myers, Joe Talirunili: A Grace Beyond the Reach of Art, (Montreal: La Federation des cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec, 1977). See also First Arts Auction, May 2019, Lot 56; Maria von Finckenstein ed., Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1999), p. 90; Céline Saucier and Eugen Kedl, Image Inuit du Nouveau-Québec, (Montreal: Fides / Musée de la civilisation, 1988), p. 113.