Lot 271
JOE TALIRUNILI (1893-1976)
Note:
“The engraved text says: ‘With my harpoon, my father Pootoogook killed the bear that attacked my uncle Amiituk.’ The two men had been surprised by the bear while seal-hunting on the ice; this explains the use of the harpoon in dispatching the attacking beast. The rabbit, the flying owl and other small Arctic animals are punctuation marks often used by [the artist] to enliven a scene.”
from Furneaux, Patrick and Leo Rosshandler, Ernst Roch, ed., Art of the Eskimo: Prints, Signum Press, 1974, pp. 178-9