Inuit Wood Sculpture Wolves Attacking Musk Oxen

Item: 1598

Origin: Inuit Eskimo
Date: Early 20th Century

Media: Wood, nails

Dimensions: 12″ by 12″, as boxed – 13.5″ x 13.5″ x 4 3/8″ tall

Description: This carved wood scene shows a group of wolves surrounding a small group of musk oxen.  The wolves are of all different sizes, one appearing hurt or killed by the battle.  Three of the five musk ox are shown in fine detail including fur and horns and a face.  The other two musk ox are more general in their shape without accents, other than the adze marks created by the carver.  The wood appears to be cedar and the animals are pinned to the wood base with nails or fine, steel rods. A more detailed description is found with its publication and those pages are included as a photo herein. The wood platform is set on top of a plastic base and then a plexiglass box covers the sculpture.  The plexiglass box has a crack on one side.

Provenance: Estate / Collection: Property from the Collection of Alistair Bradley Martin

Literature: Allen Wardwell, “Wolves Attacking Musk-Oxen,” The Guennol Collection, col. III, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, 1991, p. 181, illus.

Condition:  Condition is original without restoration.   The plexiglass case covering the sculpture is cracked on one side.

Price: 3400