ID Number

Title

Item Name

Culture

Manufacturing Technique

Date Made

Maker

Place Made

Date Collected

Date Owned

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

Measurements

Item Classes

Condition

Accession Number

Cultural Context

contemporary art

Description

Print depicting two eider ducks: the brown female is on the left-hand side; the male, pictured on the right-hand side, has an off-white and black body, brown wings and tail, and a black-capped head with a blue accent. Both ducks have green beaks and feet. Printed in the bottom left-hand corner is the Cape Dorset stylized red igloo seal and the name of the printmaker in Inuit syllabics. Below the image is written, "Eider Ducks Lithograph 21/60 Dorset 1978 Kananginak," and Inuit syllabics. The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council and Cape Dorset Cooperative blind embossed stamps are in the bottom right-hand corner.

Narrative

The Dorset Cooperative follows Japanese tradition, where printmaking specialists assume responsibility for the print, rather than the artist supervising all aspects of the process. The earliest prints were stone cut and stencil. Copperplate engraving dominated by the early 1960's, with a continuation of printing. Lithographs were introduced in 1972. Cape Dorset catalogue number: 78-l7

History Of Use

Contemporary Inuit prints were first produced at Cape Dorset in 1957. Although precursors to printmaking can be seen in women's skin applique work and in men's incising of ivory, stone and bone, the impetus for printmaking was as a commercial venture. This venture was established jointly by Inuit artists and John Houston, the civil administrator for Cape Dorset. Other Inuit communities quickly followed the commercial success of Cape Dorset's West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. Printmaking developed as a communal activity following a Japanese, rather than a Western, model of serigraph production. Each year the cooperatives produce a series of limited edition prints which are sold in the retail art market. In 1965, the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council was established from the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee to ensure high standards were maintained. Printmaking, along with stone carving, provide cash income for communities which have undergone rapid and significant change, during the late 20th century, from traditional hunting based societies to settled communities dependent on consumer goods. The prevalent images depicted in Inuit art are of traditional life, arctic animals and mythology. Recently, contemporary subjects have been depicted by a minority of artists.