I fell in love with a bunch of things this week, and this singular Inuit carving is high among them--I find her so full of life and wide eyed wonder, and oh, those braids. Of substantial size, and even more so presence, she was carved of black marbled stone by Samwillie Mikpegak (1922-2002), signed on the underside along with his disk number E9312. I have turned up a few other works by Mikpegak, who seems to have been a much beloved figure in the Kuujjuarapik community-- at the mouth of the Great Whale River on the coast of Hudson Bay in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. I also learned that in the 1950s, Mikpegak was one of a population of over 1000 native Canadians infected with tuberculousis who were forcibly relocated by the Canadian Department of National Health and Welfare to the Mountain Sanatorium--there are articles recognizing carvings that Mikpegak produced during that time.
6 1/8 t x 2 7/8 w x 3” d; weighs 3 1/2 pounds. Scattered surface scratches and dings, which due to the nature of the stone show white, none of them major and I think just add to her character; no cracks or repairs. Mid 20th c. I believe.
