Don Balke (B. 1933) "Tundra Muskox"

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April 14th - Fine Art & Antiques

By Helmuth Stone Gallery

Apr 14, 2024

Set Reminder 2024-04-14 14:00:00 2024-04-14 14:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : April 14th - Fine Art & Antiques https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/helmuth-stone-gallery/april-14th---fine-art-antiques-15386
Featuring an Important Sands Point NY collection. Alfred T. Bricher, Henry F. Farny, Ignacio Iturria, Jasper Cropsy, Thomas Hill and other notable artists will be highlighted in the sale. Helmuth Stone Gallery helmuthstone@gmail.com

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• Lot Description
  Don Balke (North Carolina, B. 1933)
  "Tundra Muskox"
  Signed lower left. Original Watercolor on Illustration Board.
  
  Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.
  
  This painting originally appeared on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 37c Tunda Muskox Arctic Animals stamp issue of July 2, 2003. Called omingmak -- meaning "the animal with skin like a beard" -- by Inupiaq-speaking Eskimos, the muskox Ovibos moschatus has changed little since the last ice age. Mature bulls average five feet high at the shoulder and weigh up to 800 pounds. During the rut (the annual period of sexual excitement in the males), battles between bull muskoxen become battering contests which are as spectacular as they are violent. After a mutual display of aggression, two bulls charge at top speed directly towards one another from distances of 50 yards or more, colliding squarely on their horns. Incredibly, the sound created by this tremendous impact may be heard from up to a mile away. Following a clash, the competitors back up, swinging their heads from side to side, and then repeat the sequence until one bull runs away. A battle may consist of 20 clashes -- each with a force equivalent to that of an automobile slamming into a concrete wall at 17 miles per hour. Luckily for them, bull muskoxen boast heavily armored skulls to protect them from the intense shock of impact; four inches of horn and another three inches of solid bone lie directly between the animal's brain and the area of contact. After muskoxen disappeared from Alaska in the 1800s, a transplant population of some thirty specimens was brought from East Greenland to Alaska's Nunivak Island in the 1930s. Today, thanks to conservation efforts, close to 3,000 muskoxen roam free in Alaska.
  
  Image Size: 7 x 6 in.
  Overall Size: 14 x 13 in.
  Unframed. (B17099)

  Condition

  
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