(Ottawa, Ontario) Artfact Live! will offer live online bidding on over 400 lots of Inuit, First Nation and ethnographic arts at Walker’s Auctions’ November 13 sale.  Featured in the sale are paintings, sculpture traditional clothing and masks, jewelry and baskets from numerous significant collections.  Auction previews are scheduled in Ottawa and Toronto and a complete auction catalog is available online at www.Artfact.com.

Highlighting the sale is a remarkable collection of miniature ivory and bone carvings assembled by ethnogeographer Norman Hallendy.  This collection of 57 Inuit works features a menagerie of animals, including fish, seals, narwhal, beluga and polar bears, in addition to a number of human figures engaged in various hunting, gathering and ritualistic activities.  The figures range in size from just a few millimeters up to seven or eight inches.  Hallendy assembled the collection during a short period from 1968-1971 and though they are considered “modern” Inuit art - having been carved nearly a half century ago - many recall an earlier traditional style of Arctic ivory and bone carving.  This unique and impressive collection, the centerpiece of this exciting auction, is expected to sell for  $55,000-$75,000.

Also offered is a circa-mid-1960s black stone figure of a man with four faces by Francis Kaluraq.  Kaluraq was one of the first Baker Lake sculptors singled out for special attention in the early 1960s.  Despite his reputation as a sculptor, the artist was not prolific in the craft and only practiced it for a short time before becoming a printmaker.  Although the piece’s angular body and trademark facial features are typical of Kaluraq’s style, this mysterious figure is most likely unique in the artist’s oeuvre.  Signed in syllabics and measuring 9 inches in height, the figure is expected to bring $18,000 - $22,000. 

Additional works in include a circa-1915 Kwakwaka’wakw totem pole.  The carved cedar pole boasts original flat black polychrome paint, depicting a seated man topped by a bear holding a man’s head.  Above those is a man with a frog emerging from his mouth topped by a dramatic eagle finial.  The pole measures 35.5 inches in height and is estimated to sell for $4,000 - $6,000.

In addition to this important auction, Artfact Live! also offers live online bidding at premier auctions around the world.  Artfact Live! bidders benefit from an enhanced, easy-to-use bidding console; a comprehensive auction database; and a powerful search engine that allows bidders to search consignments by keyword, auction house, artist name and more.  To register to bid at this or any other Artfact Live! auction, please visit www.Artfact.com.

Artfact.com is the largest global marketplace of fine and decorative arts, antiques, collectibles, and estate auctions.  In 2009, Artfact launched two live online bidding platforms, Artfact Live! and Invaluable Live! In the UK, allowing users to bid in real-time on auctions held around the world reaching a community of more than 10 million knowledgeable collectors and dealers worldwide. In 2010, Artfact merged with AuctionZip.com, increasing the reach of their platforms to include thousands of auction houses around the country.  Artfact's industry leading database includes more than 57 million complete auction results totaling more than $204 billion in value, including information on more than 500,000 international artists.

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