Serpentine Bear Sculpture

Mr Jean Chrétien, who was the former Prime Minister of Canada, presented this gift to then-Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong during his visit to Singapore from October 15 to 18, 2005.

^{Dimensions: 36 × 14 × 16 cm}

This gift is a serpentine stone carving from Cape Dorset that depicts both naturalistic and dancing bears.

For thousands of years, the Inuit peoples of Cape Dorset have been creating artworks from stone, bone and ivory. Many of the early objects that came from these communities were small portable utilitarian items – knives (ulu) and axes, that were decoratively embellished with imagery from the north. Once settlers arrived in the Arctic, the Inuit began trading carvings with European whalers and visitors.

Bears are an extremely popular subject matter when it comes to Inuit Art. This may be because the polar bear is one of the most iconic animals in the North. As powerful and majestic animals, the polar bear remains at the top of the food chain in the north and is protective of its family. Many Inuit artists have a remarkable ability to capture the life-like dimensions and forms of the polar bear because of their close contact and familiarity with the animal.