Lot 103
ERIC NIUQTUK (1937-1994) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
Muskox, early 1960s
stone and muskox horn, 9 x 12.25 x 5.5 in (22.9 x 31.1 x 14 cm)
signed, "ᓂᐅᑐ".

Provenance
The collection of a retired RCMP officer, purchased by him from the artist;
Albrecht Collection, Scottsdale, Arizona;
Their sale, Walker's, Ottawa, 25 May 2016, Lot 161;
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, BC.

Exhibited
Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, 2006 [?], travelling exh.,Phoenix, AZ, The Heard Museum, 2006 [?], College Station, TX, J. Wayne Stark University Center Galleries, Texas A&M University; Coral Gables, FL, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami; Anchorage, AK; Richmond, Virginia, Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond; Tucson, AZ, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, dates unknown, cat. 86.

Published
Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Phoenix: Heard Museum, 2006), cat. 86, p. 98.

This truly impressive Muskox by Niuqtuk is one of the largest examples we know of from this early period of Baker Lake art. Its sculptural form is superb: both the pleasing outline and the sensuous volumes emphasize the animal’s bulk. We have always admired a pristine Musk Ox from 1963 by George Tatanniq (see Zepp, Pure Vision, cat. 66); Niuqtuk’s is larger and much bulkier, but it is every bit as beautiful. As with most other early 1960s examples there is no texture indicating the animal’s thick hair, but the marble veining of the stone beautifully conveys the impression of texture. This type of stone was sometimes used by Baker Lake artists in the early 1960s, but its colouration could be a distraction from the carved forms; here the veining actually enhances the beauty of the massive sculpture. There are additional features we admire about Muskox: we love the unusually large ears of the animal, which we find charming; and we feel that the contrast between the stone and the delicate horns is particularly elegant.

References: For a fine later example of the same subject by the artist (c. 1970) see See also Norman Zepp, Inspiration: Four Decades of Sculpture by Canadian Inuit, (Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1995), cat. 45, p. 70. For another later example (1972) see Winnipeg Art Gallery, The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978), cat. 29, p. 32.