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Freeman’s offers upward of 700 lots across two April Native American art sales.

On April 10, Freeman’s will present 300 lots of Native American art and objects in a live auction at its Chicago showroom, followed by the release of an additional 400 lots in an online sale on April 13. Spanning the North American continent, the Indigenous material ranges from ancestral pottery to contemporary art by Helen Hardin, Tammy Garcia, Preston Singletary and others. Mediums represented include beadwork, textiles, paintings, glass sculpture, wood tools and soapstone sculptures.

Monumental Ojibwa Calumet Pipe with Fine Lead Inlay Burl Bowl, late 18th, early 19th century. Estimate: $20/30,000

“Among the highlights are early beadwork and a strong group of Inuit stone sculptures including works by Barnabus Arnasungaaq and John Pangnark,” shares Freeman’s head of Native American Art Danica Farnand. “The sale also includes pottery by artists such as Al Qöyawayma, Richard Zane Smith and Russell Sanchez, as well as a decorated walrus tusk with two children’s portraits by Happy Jack.”

Pauta Saila (Kingait, 1916-2009), Bear, stone sculpture, 6½ x 5 x 9 in. Property from the Serr and Shannon Collection, Warehouse Art Museum. Estimate: $5/7,000

One major piece in the April 10 sale is a 45½-inch-long ceremonial Ojibwa calumet pipe with a fine lead inlay burl bowl (est. $20/30,0000) from the late 18th or early 19th century. “The stem, gracefully carved, is composed of nine cylindrical segments divided by a sequence of nine faceted, convex spool-form ‘beads,’ painted in red and black pigments,” the lot description reads. “The burl bowl, with a subtly beveled body, is decorated with lead inlay suggestive of feather motifs, the underside further detailed with a split-tail design; lead-lined…The recurrence of nine, a multiple of three, may allude to the interconnected realms of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Worlds; further underscored by the use of red and black, colors traditionally associated with spiritual and directional forces.”

Margaret Tafoya (Santa Clara, 1904-2001), Monumental Redware Pottery Jar with Bear Paw, 19¼ x 20¾ in. Estimate: $15/25,000

Farnand also points to a stone sculpture by Pauta Saila (Kingait, 1916-2009) with an estimate of $5,000 to $7,000. The piece, depicting a sauntering bear, is from the Serr and Shannon Collection in the Warehouse Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it was exhibited in 2023. Also of note is a redware pottery jar by Margaret Tafoya (Santa Clara Pueblo, 1904-2001) valued at $15,000 to $20,000.” [This] olla was collected by a Cincinnati family and is impressively large with a diameter of 203/4 inches,” says Farnand. “Its highly polished surface features four bear paws.”

Visit www.freemansauction.com for updates and information on how to bid. —

April 10, 2026
Native American Art
Freeman’s 1550 W. Carroll Avenue, Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 280-1212, www.freemansauction.com