PAUTA SAILA, R.C.A. (1916-2009) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Dancing Polar Bear, c. mid-late 1970s
stone and antler, 12 x 7 x 3 in (30.5 x 17.8 x 7.6 cm)
signed, "ᐸᐅᑕ / ᓴᐃᓚ".

ESTIMATE: $15,000 — $25,000

Provenance
Ex. Collection Bill Johnstone, UK;
His sale, Waddington's, Toronto, 20 November 2018, Lot 34.

Published
Ken Mantel et al., Tuvaq: Inuit Art and the Modern World (Bristol, UK: Sansom and Company Ltd., 2010), fig. 216, p. 205.

One of the things we love most about Pauta was his ability to revisit the same subject, over a period of several decades, and produce works which are as individualistic as they are immediately recognizable. Pauta, unlike many of his contemporaries, eschewed the formulaic and used his preferred subject as a springboard from which to explore the seemingly limitless permutations and combinations of his creative vision. While Pauta carved a number of striking walking bears (see First Arts 14 June 2022, lot 82), he is of course best known for his upright or “dancing” bears.

We love how Pauta has depicted his favourite subject in this example. While many Pauta bears are rather corpulent and decidedly ferocious, this svelte beauty possesses balletic grace, elegance, and a soupçon of humour for good measure. Is this possibly a young bear that has shed its baby fat yet is not fully grown? One imagines a petulant “teenage” bear, endearingly serious in its attempt at ferocity!

In slimming down his subject, Pauta gives rather more emphasis to the shape and direction of the bear’s limbs; each leg relates beautifully to its neighbour and to its opposite number (as well as to the neck and head), creating a lovely sense of balance, rhythm, proportion, and positive/negative space. Pauta has also masterfully utilized the inherent beauty of the serpentine stone to emphasize the sculptural forms. Indeed, this bear’s wonderful derrière reminds us of a topographical survey. Simply delightful.

References: For similarly styled and/or posed works by Pauta see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 892, p. 267.