Lot 116
Joe Talirunili ᔪᐅ ᑕᓚᕈᓂᓕ (1893-1976)
Lot 116 Details
Joe Talirunili ᔪᐅ ᑕᓚᕈᓂᓕ (1893-1976), Puvirnituq (Povungnituk)
FAMILY OF OWLS
stone
signed in Roman
3 x 3.25 x 2.25 in — 7.6 x 8.3 x 5.7 cm
Estimate $4,000-$6,000
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Hamilton, ON, ca. 1975;
Waddington's Auctioneers, Toronto, ON, 5 Nov 2007, lot 217;
Private Collection, Hamilton, ON
Note:
Joe Talirunili delighted in carving owls. The subject reoccurs time and again in his work, and the artist’s owls appear in a range of forms and postures which continue to appeal to collectors. Rarely however do they appear in sculptures as groups. In the present work Talirunili has depicted a family of nesting owls in remarkably fine detail.
It seems an inseparable part of Talirunili’s energetic style and exuberant production that many of his sculptures would be broken (and often repaired) by the artist. The delicate fineness of the beaks of the owls in the present sculpture ranks among the most sensitively rendered details sculpted by the artist.