Multiple human images in Eskimo sculpture ...

• Main Author: Blodgett, Ruth Jean
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Arctic; eskimo*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0092994; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0092994

Although the human head is a common subject in art, the Eskimos have utilized this motif in a most uncommon manner. Sculptures consisting of a number of human heads, and only human heads, have been produced throughout the arctic, but never as consistently as by the Dorset and contemporary artists. In view of the unusual nature of this subject and its flourishing appearance 900 years apart in two distinct Eskimo cultures, one wonders what significance the motif had for the Eskimos themselves and what connection, if any, exists between its role in the art of two different, albeit Eskimo, cultures. Investigation of these problems is complicated by the particular circumstances of both cultures, especially the Dorset. Little has been written about the multiples of either culture. And while the contemporary Eskimos are available for interview—and were very helpful in answering the queries put to them—the Dorsets have long since been replaced by the Thule Eskimos. Our only actual evidence of the prehistoric Dorsets ...