Inuit Art - Snowy Owl and the Raven
Purchased in 1975 in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, this exquisite piece is part of a collection accumulated over many years while flying land-use surveys throughout the Arctic for the federal government.
Authenticity: This unsigned sculpture comes with the "Igloo tag". The Canadian government has registered the "Igloo" as a trademark. This tag certifies that the Inuit art sculpture you are purchasing was handmade by an Inuit artist of Canada.
The snowy owl is carved from ancient whale vertebrae and the raven from caribou bone perched on a base of caribou antler.
The snowy owl is 14” long by 7” high; the raven is 4.5” long by 2” high; and the caribou antler base is 7” long by 4” wide.
The total weight is 1 lb 6.6 oz.
One of the heaviest of North American owls, the ghostlike snowy owl has unmistakable white plumage that echoes its Arctic origins.
The Inuit legend of the owl and the raven is an old Inuit myth about how the Raven came to have its black feather colour as a result of a disagreement with the Owl.
The story begins with two birds, Owl and Raven, who have stark white plumage. Raven becomes bored with his plain coloring and asks Owl if she is bored with being white as well. Owl responds that she is also unsatisfied by her coloring. Raven proposes that the birds paint each other’s plumage so that they are no longer as white as the snow around them, and Owl agrees. Raven paints Owl first, drawing gray circles of various sizes all over his friend’s feathers. When he is finished, Raven is overcome by what a good job he has done and steps back so that Owl may look at herself.
Turning his head to the sun and staying as still as possible, Raven then waits while Owl paints him. Once Owl has finished, she begins to admire her work. However, when she looks back at herself she realizes that Raven now looks more beautiful than she does. Owl accordingly goes over to the blubber lamp from which Raven had taken the burnt-fat and pours the remnants over Raven. Owl then flies away; Raven shrieks after her, “Oh, you sharp-clawed Owl, oh, you keen-eyed Owl, what have you done?! You have made me blacker than soot, blacker than night!” From that day on every raven has been black.
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