TWO GREENLANDIC INUIT KAYAK AND ROWER SCULPTURES
£600
African & Oceanic Art and Antiquities
Auction: 21 March 2018 at 11:00 GMT
Description
marine ivory, carved in multiple seperate pieces, the first with a wooden base and soapstone seal attached, the second shown seated in a leather bound kayak
Dimensions
longest 28cm
Footnote
Provenance: Ex. collection of John Christian Olsen.
Olsen was a Danish resistance member in WW2. He was captured and sent to Bochum concentration camp (a sub camp of Buchenwald). After liberation in 1945 he walked back to Denmark but found it difficult to reajust to normal life. He travelled to Greenland and lived in the wilderness. During this time he befriended local Inuit and obtained these rare ivory carvings which are rare and distinct from the commercial examples being produced at the time.