SIMON KASUDLUAK (1925-D) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON)

Young Boy Skinning an Ermine,mid-late 1950s

stone, 5.25 x 4.25 x 3.25 in (13.3 x 10.8 x 8.3 cm)

inscribed with artist's partial disc number and signed, "1716 / SIMON".

Provenance

Ex. Coll. Lorne Balshine, Vancouver;

Walker's, 3 November 2013, Lot 172, as Young Boy Skinning a Muskrat;

Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Toronto.

Simon Kasudluak began carving in 1949 and was considered an accomplished artist; three early works are illustrated in Darlene Wight’s Early Masters catalogue. Young Boy Skinning an Ermine is a truly charming small sculpture; realistic and beautifully detailed, it is surprisingly appealing given the subject matter. Kasudluak was perhaps remembering his own first catch; more likely, it is a proud father’s portrait of his young son.

Literature: Some of Kasudluak’s earliest carvings are illustrated in Darlene Coward Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955 (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006), pp. 79 and 81; Jean Blodgett, Port Harrison / Inoucdjouac (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1976), cat. 36. See also Walker’s Nov. 2014, Lot 233; May 2018, Lot 223.