LATCHOLASSIE AKESUK (1919-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Lounging Seal, early 1970s
 
stone, 5.75 x 13 x 2 in (14.6 x 33 x 5.1 cm)
unsigned.
 
While Latcholassie is best known for his playfully anthropomorphic birds, some of our favourite pieces by the artist are his rather comical depictions of recumbent seals. Whereas Latcholassie’s owls are generally presented as rather compressed and corpulent, his seals tend to be more elongated and svelte. This charming and dynamic fellow likely dates to the early 1970s and almost seems to be waving at the viewer with its front flippers while the human-like rear flippers are raised aloft. Latcholassie certainly had fun with this one!

References: 
For a similarly posed bird by the artist see Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture / Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), cat. 194.