9" "Covid Collection" Bird Chick with Green eyes by Toonoo Sharky

Provenance - January 1st, 2021**

Back in April, 2020, we launched a rare and exceptional collection of Toonoo Sharky pieces. These sculptures were carved when Inuit artists were locked down inside their homes during the early months of the Covid pandemic. Only a few artists had available material to carve which resulted in the production of a few select sculptures.

One of those artists was Master Carver - Toonoo Sharky.

We felt compelled to record this global historical moment and compiled a special booklet documenting our “Covid Collection”. Any collector who purchased a piece from the Covid Collection received the booklet and a provenance for the sculpture documenting its unique story.

In any event, the Toonoo Sharky pieces we are adding today (January 1st, 2021) were carved in April, 2020 and are from the same collection as our Covid Collection. They were previously in the hands of another gallery but have made their way home to us.

Happily, through a twist of fate, we can offer our clients PART 2 of the Covid Collection.

When you purchase any of these five historic Toonoo Sharkey carvings, you will receive a Provenance in the form of a Booklet outlining the unique circumstances surrounding these sculptures.

Toonoo Sharkey’s Bird Chick is an exquisite depiction of innocence and sheer determination.

With his big inlaid green eyes and the mottled feathers of a young chick,

Sharkey has us hoping that this young bird with the oversized feet and outspread

wings will be able to lift off from his earthly home and soar into the heavens.

I admire Toonoo Sharkey immensely. He has THE touch; the rare ability to extract vision from a stone and then breathe life into its soul.

This Bird Chick has the life force of a quintessential Sharkey sculpture. Energetic and winsome, this piece will capture your heart.

When you see this young bird in your collection, it will lift your spirits and bring a lightness into your life!

These Covid Collection pieces will sell quickly.

They have historical significance AND their diminutive size makes for an appealing price point.

Toonoo Sharky (1970 - )

"Toonoo's parents, Josephee Sharky and Ragee Killiktee, were both carvers, though he credits his grandfather, master carver Kuppapik Ragee and his uncle Shorty Killiktee as influences. Toonoo started carving at ten, began to get serious at thirteen and first exhibited when he was just 17. He is regarded as one of the most exciting young carvers to emerge in the Arctic. His themes include fanciful and quite dramatic treatment of wildlife, particularly birds, and transformational works that are both powerful and humorous. His work is widely shown, and he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in 2003." *

* from "Cape Dorset Sculpture", Douglas & McIntyre, 2005