Inuit Stone Carving Merging Man and Walrus

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Description

On offer is a highly detailed, authentic late 20th-century Inuit (Eskimo) stone carving depicting a mythological shape-shifter in a shamanic … Read more On offer is a highly detailed, authentic late 20th-century Inuit (Eskimo) stone carving depicting a mythological shape-shifter in a shamanic transformation scene, a common theme in Inuit spirituality. It beautifully merges a human hunter or shaman—identifiable by the detailed facial features, beard, and traditional amauti or parka hood—with the heavy, powerful body of a walrus featuring long tusks, whiskers, and flippers.
Carved from a mottled green serpentine or soapstone, the figures are bound with native sinew or cordage, which adds a narrative element of a captured creature or shamanic binding rituals.
The base of the sculpture contains critical registry markings used historically by the Canadian government and art historians to track authentic Indigenous art. At the top are Inuit Syllabics. The inscribed characters (ᓴᓪᓗᐃᑦ or similar) indicate the community of origin, in this case Salluit (formerly known as Sugluk), a coastal Nunavik community in northern Quebec renowned for its expressive, heavy, and rounded stone carvings.
At the middle is the date indicator. The inscription "© 79" indicates that the piece was copyrighted or completed in 1979. On the bottom is the "E-Number"/ Disc Identifier. The inscription "2-48774" (specifically formatted as E9-XXX or E2-XXX) is a Disc Number. From 1941 until 1972, the Canadian government assigned these numeric identifiers to Inuit individuals for registration purposes. Even after the practice officially ended, many artists continued to sign their work with their numbers into the late 1970s and 1980s. The prefix "2-" refers to the Arctic district (E2 representing Northern Quebec/Nunavik region).
Tracking the exact artist associated with disc number 2-48774 is possible by cross-reference the number with the Inuit Art Foundation (IAF) artist database or contacting the Katilvik registry.
Signature/Maker’s mark: Sculpture underside (photos #11-13). See less