FEATURES ARCHIVE

Expertly curated by Native American Art scholar John Molloy, this special sale brings together a select assortment of pottery, baskets, textiles, beadwork and jewelry which showcase the artistic achievements of the indigenous population of North America. Each piece has been selected for its aesthetic quality and reflects the artistic tradition of its makers.

Native Aesthetic
Leading the sale is a decorated deerskin shirt made by an Illinois Indian about 1740. This shirt is the lead piece in an upcoming show at the Denver Art Museum titled 300 Years of Indian Shirts. Paralleled only by the distinctive robes at the Musée de Quai Branly in Paris, this shirt epitomizes the advanced aesthetic of the Native population during the late 18th century. It is the finest object of its type ever to become available at auction.

Historically Important
This pair of moccasins was collected by Anglo-Irish aristocrat Sir John Caldwell who fought with the King’s 8th Battalion while stationed at Forts Detroit & Niagara between 1774 and 1779. In excellent condition, they are undoubtedly the oldest pair of documented moccasins in private hands. Caldwell had his portrait painted wearing all his Indian finery, including these moccasins, in 1790. The portrait now hangs in the Liverpool Museum of Art and is the cover for Boujou Neejee, an important reference text on Eastern Woodlands Art.

Graphic Beauty
The dramatic combination of color and design in this child’s blanket showcases the Navajo aesthetic at its finest. It combines both cochineal dyed ‘bayeta’ (a red wool unraveled from Spanish blankets) as well as aniline dyed-handspun yarns. There are also indigo blue and indigo green handspun yarns. This unusual combination of dyes and yarns is found in very few weavings, the most famous of which is the Chief White Antelope blanket which was taken from the body of the Cheyenne Chief after the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864.

Rites and Rituals
Shoshone artist Cadzi Cody was one of the most celebrated hide artists of the Plains Tribes, working at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries during a period of transition to reservation life. His figural compositions, painted on animal hides and used as robes or wall hangings, were highly sought by visitors to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Today many of these hides are housed in museums throughout the country. This particular example depicts a buffalo hunt and a ritual dance around an American flag pole. It shows both the ‘old way’ (the buffalo hunt) concurrent with the ‘new’ (the American flag).

Master Jeweler
One of the great masters of 20th century jewelry design, Charles Loloma was educated in the craft of jewelry-making in the community of his ancestors at the Hopi Pueblo in Northern Arizona. His designs represent the perfect marriage of tradition and innovation, as they combine traditional materials such as silver and turquoise with the more exotic additions of coral, ivory, lapis lazuli, and other semi-precious stones. Inspired by the landscape of the American Southwest, Loloma’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.