SALOMONIE JAW (1954-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Fish Spirit and Muskox, 1965
stone, 3.5 x 4.5 x 1.75 in (8.9 x 11.4 x 4.4 cm)
signed and dated, "SALAMONIE / 65".

Provenance
Ex Collection of Terry Ryan;
His sale, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto;
Collection of Jean Blodgett;
Estate of the above.

Exhibitions
Montreal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, La déesse Inuite de la mer / The Inuit sea goddess, s.d., 1980; travelling exh., Surrey, BC, Surrey Art Gallery, 21 October - 29 November 29 1981, cat 39;Toronto, Feheley Fine Arts, The Ryan Collection, May 9 - June 6, 1998, no cat. no.

Publications
Nelda Swinton, La déesse Inuite de la mer / The Inuit sea goddess, (Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1980), cat. 30;Feheley Fine Arts, The Ryan Collection, (Toronto: Feheley Fine Arts, 1998), no cat. no, p. 11.

The early 1960s in Cape Dorset saw multiple spirit images in both graphics and sculptures (see Lots 8 and 164). While some of the works referred to specific legends or deities, others were objects of pure fantasy. One of the quirkiest artists of the period was Joe Jaw (1930-1987) whose Fantasy Dog from c. 1961, formerly in the Robertson Collection is a classic example of early 1960’s Dorset sculpture [1]. Jaw’s son Salomonie was born in 1954 and was thus only eleven years old when he carved this magical Fish Spirit and Muskox! While the work is somewhat naïve in execution, it is brilliantly conceived and visually striking. The fact that this was carved by a precocious child is rather astonishing and it is no wonder that Terry Ryan (then the manager of the West Baffin co-op) chose to retain it for his own personal enjoyment.

1. Blodgett, The Robertson Collection, 1986, cat. 19; Gustavison, Northern Rock, 1999, cat. 5.

References: Interestingly, there is a quite similar work (but without the fish spirit), also from 1965, by the Baker Lake sculptor David Tiktaalaaq, in the Swinton Collection at the WAG; see Darlene Wight, The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, (Winnipeg, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987), cat. 120.