JOE TALIRUNILI (1893-1976) PUVIRNITUQ (POVUNGNITUK)
Ermine with Caught Fish, c. 1965
stone, 3 x 5.75 x 1.25 in (7.6 x 14.6 x 3.2 cm)
signed, "JOE / ᑕᓕᕈᓂᓕ".

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, California, USA;
Private Collection, Toronto.

Ermine with Caught Fish is a miniature masterpiece by Joe. Though the ermine's catch is well integrated in the small work's mass and contour, it seems to be arrived at very much individually. There is deep undercutting around the arctic animal's mouth and its aquatic catch so that we understand them as two clearly delineated objects.

Joe's addition of the integrated plinth serves to emphasize the fine and remarkably accurate proportions achieved in his depiction of an ermine. The mix of solid rock and void spaces are fitted together so that attraction is evenly distributed within the diminutive, elongated frame. Interestingly, this work is signed not directly on the bottom of the carving but to the playful up-turned underside of the base.