Greenland
1960
Wood and shell
Height 13 in. (33 cm)
Provenance: John Newall, journalist specializing in North Korea and the Soviet Union
This mask by Jakob Amatangneg depicts a female face in the Greenlandic carving tradition, worked in wood with shell elements and showing the distinctive formal vocabulary of mid-twentieth-century Greenlandic mask production. The rounded face, inlaid shell eyes, and horizontal brow markings reflect conventions of Inuit and Greenlandic mask making adapted to the tourism and collector market of the post-war period, while retaining connections to the older masking traditions of the Arctic. The 1960 date places the work in the period when Greenlandic carvers were producing objects for both ceremonial and commercial contexts.
The provenance through John Newall, a journalist with specialist knowledge of North Korea and the Soviet Union, suggests acquisition through contact with Arctic and northern collecting networks active during the Cold War period. Signed or attributed works by named Greenlandic carvers from this era are seldom encountered with documented provenance.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Greenland
1960
Wood and shell
Height 13 in. (33 cm)
Provenance: John Newall, journalist specializing in North Korea and the Soviet Union
This mask by Jakob Amatangneg depicts a female face in the Greenlandic carving tradition, worked in wood with shell elements and showing the distinctive formal vocabulary of mid-twentieth-century Greenlandic mask production. The rounded face, inlaid shell eyes, and horizontal brow markings reflect conventions of Inuit and Greenlandic mask making adapted to the tourism and collector market of the post-war period, while retaining connections to the older masking traditions of the Arctic. The 1960 date places the work in the period when Greenlandic carvers were producing objects for both ceremonial and commercial contexts.
The provenance through John Newall, a journalist with specialist knowledge of North Korea and the Soviet Union, suggests acquisition through contact with Arctic and northern collecting networks active during the Cold War period. Signed or attributed works by named Greenlandic carvers from this era are seldom encountered with documented provenance.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
