JOE TALIRUNILI (1893-1976) PUVIRNITUQ (POVUNGNITUK)
Horned Owl, late 1960s
stone, 4.5 x 2.25 x 1.5 in (11.4 x 5.7 x 3.8 cm)
signed, "JOE";
inscribed by the artist with the carving number, "1-31011" and accompanied by the igloo tag with the same registration number.

Provenance
Private Collection, USA.

As previously discussed (see Lot 75), Joe seemed to delight in his idiosyncratic depictions of his owl subjects. We are fortunate to have two strikingly different examples in this sale. The unsuspecting observer might even think they were carved by a different hand. Whereas Lot 75 likely depicts a chubby and quizzical little owlet, the present example portrays a mature and statuesque Horned Owl that strikes us as far more regal and self-assured. Joe was able to invest his little owls with larger-than-life personalities, and it is easy to see why several collectors have felt the need to obtain several examples for their collections, often displaying them as de facto family units.

References: Several similar portraits of horned owls are illustrated in Marybelle Myers, Joe Talirunili: A Grace Beyond the Reach of Art, (Montreal: La Federation des cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec, 1977), on pp. 4, 18-19, 26-27, 32, 40, and 50, as well as several prints depicting owls. See also First Arts, May 2019, Lot 1; Jean Blodgett, Povungnituk, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978), cats. 67-68; George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 360. For a very early owl (not a horned owl) from 1953, see Darlene Coward Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006), p. 108.