Inuit kayak model - Greenland, 39.5 cm, Fred Smit collection

Description

Authentic Inuit kayak model from Greenland with powerful look and complete equipment.

Origin & meaning
This model depicts the ingenious kayak used by Inuit hunters in Greenland to brave the sea for centuries. Clad in animal skin and equipped with paddles, harpoons, ropes and a crew figure in traditional parka, it reflects the inventiveness and survival skills of one of the world's most extreme habitats.
Provenance: De Zwaan auction house (2024), from the collection of Fred Smit, Haarlem - a collector with an eye for ethnographic quality.

Dimensions & condition
Length 39.5 cm. In excellent condition with slight signs of age. Original skin and accessories present; the parka is flawless with no tears. A rare complete and decorative example.

Fred Smit - teacher and historian Fred Smit made his first purchase in 1968 and would steadily expand his collection over the following decades to include objects from distant cultures. His interest was mainly in Africa and Oceania and he bought from recognised galleries, including Galerie Lemaire, Galerie Mabuhay (Rob Kok), Kunsthandel Aalderink and Michel Thieme in Amsterdam. His interests proved diverse: besides masks and sculptures, there were also weapons, carpets and various utensils. Visitors were amazed by the order with which the collector at his home in Haarlem managed to place each object in the big picture of shapes and colours, contributing to an imaginative interpretation of objects from exotic cultures.