On February 6 and 7, Santa Fe Art Auction offered more than 400 lots during its Native American Art Auction in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The sale would go on to have a 92 percent sell-through rate, with high prices coming from all categories, including pottery, katsinas, textiles, beadwork and paintings.
Late-19th century Lakota Tipi liner attributed to Mato Luta (Red Bear), muslin, black ink and paint, 69 x 127” Estimate: $10/20,000 SOLD: $90,000“We are very encouraged by the competitive bidding we saw across all categories during our February sale of historic and contemporary Native art,” says Joshua Rose, senior vice president of the auction house. “This sale proves the notion that Santa Fe is the place for Native art to be bought and sold. It just makes sense as so much of this work was originally created within a 100-mile radius of this historic city.”
Quinault Shaman’s Ceremonial Guardian Implement, ca. 1850, 21¼ x 3 x 2¾” Estimate: $8/12,000 SOLD: $40,200
Highlights from the two-day sale include a late-19th century Lakota Tipi liner attributed to Mato Luta (Red Bear). The four-piece muslin liner, which documents life and ceremonies of the Sioux, as well as battle scenes, was estimated at $10,000 to $20,000, but soared past its estimates, eventually closing after consistent bidding at $90,000.
“The pictograph includes some intimate and aesthetic moments which is rare to find in this sort of object,” says Rose of the nearly 10-foot muslin that has been in a private collection for more than 20 years. “We see a horse peeking through a field of tipis, several horses turned with faces turned toward the viewer and a Lakota woman holding a child.”
A Quinault Shaman’s Ceremonial Guardian Implement (est. $8/12,000) sold for nearly four times its high estimate when it closed at $40,200. The auction house notes: “The Quinault Indians inhabited what is now the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, living along the coast, and are a distinct group of people that included the larger Salish complex of tribes. The most striking examples of their sculptural traditions are found in their highly stylized, extremely rare ‘power figures’ as represented with this piece.”
Diné (Navajo) Pictorial Double Saddle Blanket, ca. 1960, handspun wool, natural and aniline dyes, 60 x 31” Estimate: $1,2/1,800 SOLD: $5,760A rare Hopi wolf Katsina, from around 1920, sold for $5,760 against a pre-auction estimate of $600 to $900, and a Navajo pictorial double saddle blanket depicting cattle and burros also sold for $5,760 against an estimate of $1,200 to $1,800. Finally, a Zia Polychrome Water Jar from around 1900 sold for $6,600, surpassing its high estimate of $2,500.
Hopi Wolf (Kweo) Katsina, ca. 1920, cottonwood, pigment, feathers, 9 x 4 x 4” Estimate: $600/900 SOLD: $5,760
Santa Fe Art Auction next turns its sights to its Art of the West sale on May 30 and in late June they will also hold a comprehensive sale of Edward Curtis material from the legendary collection of Christopher Cardozo. In late August, the auction house will hold another sale of Native American art.
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