Winter Scene in Stroud*

One of the offerings at Waddington’s Spring Auction of Inuit Art, here.

Winter in the Arctic has traditionally been the Inuit ceremonial season, a time of transformation, and of communing with spirits, both benign and malevolent. Notable in this work are the many images of the apparently supernatural. Animals with humanoid faces, humanoid figures with tails, and other figures seem to cause little concern to their more commonplace counterparts.

Marion Tuu’luq ᒪᕆᓂ ᑐᓗ (1910-2002), RCA, Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake)
UNTITLED (WINTER SCENE), 1976

stroud, felt, embroidery floss, thread
signed in syllabics; also inscribed “ᐃᓄ ᓇᐱᑐ”
56 x 58.5 in — 142.2 x 148.6 cm

*STROUD: A woolen fabric with a dense nap that sources its name from the English town where it was originally made. Dating back to the 1600s, stroud was first designed for trade in blankets with the Indigenous population of North America.