BUY THIS ISSUE Few objects in the world more clearly proclaim “American Indian” than a weathered leather shield, painted, perhaps, with some jagged streaks of lightning; or a baby’s cradleboard, lovingly adorned with colorful beadwork; or a deerskin dress heavy with fringe and elk-horn buttons.
These are but a few examples of the vast field of antique American Indian arts, ranging from pre-Columbian jade masks carved in central Mexico to ancient Moche ceramic vessels of Peru, from wood and ivory figurines carved at the edge of the Arctic Ocean to handsome Navajo chief’s blankets woven in the 18th century in New Mexico.
Sun mask, Kwakwaka’wakw, Vancouver Island, B.C., c. 1880, wood, 32" h. Photo courtesy Donald Ellis
Commanding some of the highest prices paid for any form of Native art, American Indian antique arts are in high demand around the world as examples of lasting craftsmanship, beauty and rarity, providing a tangible link to lifestyles now largely gone.
Here’s a look at some examples of these extraordinary works, brief profiles of some of the leading figures in the collection and trade of American Indian antique arts, and details on events associated with their sale.
Marcy Burns Schillay
After more than 20 years as a leading dealer in historic American Indian basketry, Marcy Burns Schillay still follows the principle of buying “what moves me. I’m guided by my eye.” Burns, whose business name is Marcy Burns American Indian Arts, deals by appointment in New York City. Her love of Southwest and California basketry was sparked by a Pima basket she saw (but couldn’t afford at the time) at a trading post while on her honeymoon in Arizona. Later she volunteered at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, with its acclaimed Native art collection, and served as president and board member for the Antique Tribal Art Dealers’ Association. Burns also deals in antique Native pottery, textiles and jewelry.
Navajo eyedazzler rug woven out of 4-ply Germantown wools, c. 1880–1890. Photo courtesy Marcy Burns American Indian Arts.
Donald Ellis
Alongside his prominence in the world of antique North American Indian art, Donald Ellis has the distinction of being the only Canadian appraiser featured on the American version of Antiques Roadshow. Ellis, who owns the Donald Ellis Gallery, Ltd. in Dundas, Ontario, focuses on extremely fine 18th- and 19th-century tribal art, with an emphasis on Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands and Eskimo art. Ellis first encountered historic Native objects as a boy, collecting potshards and buying arrowheads at Six Nations powwows in southern Ontario. He opened his gallery in 1976, and was the first Canadian to exhibit at the prestigious, invitation-only Winter Antiques Fair in New York.
Chugach mask, Prince William Sound, Alaska, c. 19th century, wood and vegetable fiber 17" h. Photo courtesy Donald Ellis.
Jed Foutz
For fifth-generation trading post owner Jed Foutz, historic Navajo textiles are inseparable from childhood memories and from his own family history in the Four Corners area, which began in the late 1850s when scout, guide and rancher Joseph Foutz settled in northern . The Foutz family has run the Shiprock Trading Post in New Mexico since then. As a consequence, when Foutz buys and sells textiles today, each one embodies the deep connection he feels with the Navajo people and culture. As a collector, he cherishes the Teec Nos Pos weavings that belonged to his grandfather, who died at age 30. As a dealer, he specializes in Navajo textiles from about 1890 to 1930, as well as antique Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo jewelry.
Nampeyo pot purchased from the Fred Harvey Company in 1903 by Alexander MacKay, 15"w x 11", c. 1903. Photo courtesy Shiprock Trading Post
Michael Kokin
Michael Kokin once owned a piece of 19th-century beadwork with highly reliable documentation indicating that it had belonged to Sitting Bull—but it was visually nondescript. Other historic American Indian art is aesthetically stunning, but has no collection history. In his more than 20 years in the field, Kokin has sought out items combining exceptional aesthetic and ethnographic qualities. His gallery, Sherwoods Spirit of America, specializes in late 18th- to late 19th-century Plains beadwork and artifacts. In its new Santa Fe location, the 5,000-square-foot space offers more than 1,400 items, including seven war shirts and 200 pairs of children’s moccasins. Kokin, originally of New York City, owned a gallery in Beverly Hills before moving to Santa Fe.
Full size Kiowa cradle c. 19th century, beaded buffalo hide, 123⁄4" wide by 453⁄4" long. Photo courtesy Sherwoods Spirit of America.
Kim Martindale
Some of Kim Martindale’s happiest moments as a toddler, according to his sister, were spent gazing at a museum diorama portraying pre-contact Blackfeet life. By the time he was 12, Martindale was spending weekends hanging out at antique American Indian art shows in California. At 16, he helped produce the first such show in Santa Fe, and at 22 he started what has become the largest North American gathering of collectors and dealers in the field: the annual Marin Indian Art Show. Now 43, Martindale also puts together the Santa Monica Indian Art Show and owns a gallery for historic and contemporary Native art in Venice, California. His own special collecting interest is historic and contemporary miniature katsina carvings.
19th century beaded moccasins (detail). Photo courtesy Kim Martindale.
Nedra Matteucci
Nedra Matteucci was working for eminent Santa Fe collector and gallery owner Forrest Fenn about 20 years ago when Fenn began selling his collection of historic American Indian art. Matteucci bought a few pieces, including a Sioux vest and an early Santo Domingo pot. Three years later, she bought Fenn’s gallery in Santa Fe, renaming it Nedra Matteucci’s Fenn Galleries. Then in 2002, she purchased Morning Star Gallery, which has become known for classic historic Pueblo pottery and antique Plains and Northwest Coast materials. Matteucci keeps a behind-the-scenes role in the business, with Henry “Chick” Monahan serving as her “front man,” researcher and manager at Morning Star. The gallery’s major annual exhibition, opening August 13, will highlight Plains children’s clothing and objects.
Nez Perce Pony Beaded Deer Tail Dress, c. 1870, 52" long. Photo courtesy Nedra Matteucci
Ramona Morris
One way Ramona Morris has trained her aesthetic eye over the years is to choose her three favorite artworks each time she’s in a museum, and then articulate why they’re her favorites. She also has a degree in anthropology and art history and did graduate archaeological studies in Mexico, all of which contribute to her research skills, which support her endeavors as a collector and dealer. Morris is past-president of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers’ Association; her two-year term ended in December 2004. She buys and sells by appointment from her Virginia home. Among her special interests are small sculptural objects, prehistoric pottery, and proto-historic Caddoan pottery from the Mississippian mound builders of A.D. 1200 to 1700.
Mississippian Chickamauga style shell mask from Tennessee or Alabama, 71⁄2" x 71⁄4", c. 1450. Photo courtesy Romana Morris.
Mark Sublette
An early love of Pueblo pottery set the course for Mark Sublette’s career as a collector and gallery owner. Growing up in Portales, New Mexico, he was exposed to art by parents who were collectors themselves, and frequently visited Santa Fe and nearby pueblos. A medical doctor, Sublette gave up his practice in 1992 to concentrate on art. His Medicine Man galleries in Tucson and Santa Fe carry historic and contemporary Western art as well as antique American Indian art, with a special focus on Maria Martinez pottery from 1915 to 1970. In fact, Sublette believes he has the largest selection of Martinez’s work for sale in the world, much of it featured during his Santa Fe gallery’s annual August exhibition.
Maria Martinez (San Ildefonso Pueblo), rare polycrome bowl, 91⁄2" diam., c. 1920. Photo courtesy Mark Sublette, Medicine Man Gallery.
Leon Taylor
In the 1950s, Leon Taylor’s aunt gave him an antique basket from a California tribe. “I’ve been in trouble ever since,” he jokes. In fact, he’s been a collector and dealer of Native basketry since then. One of the top such dealers in the United States, he specializes in California and Southwestern baskets dating from 1910 to 1960. Taylor has owned the American Indian Shop in Fresno, California for 34 years and also sells privately. He was among the earliest dealers in California to exhibit historic American Indian art at annual shows, beginning in the late 1960s. Now 79, Taylor has turned much of the business’s activity over to his son, Bryan, who has been involved since he was 15.
Mono cradleboard from North Fork by unknown artist c.1950\'s, 33" x 16".
Ted Trotta & Anna Bono
Ted Trotta and Anna Bono believe many collectors are attracted to antique tribal art as a way of reconnecting with their own earth-based heritage from millennia ago. “All of us at one time were indigenous,” Trotta observes. He and Bono, both former teachers, have been a husband-and-wife private-dealer team for almost 20 years and live about an hour north of New York City. Trotta has been involved in the field for 27 years. Most of the materials they handle were produced for Native use, and these early objects retain the subtle energy infused by their makers, Trotta believes. “They were meant to reflect the soul or animus of the object, and to have an effect upon the user.”
Navajo classic serape, c. 1865–1875. Photo courtesy Ted Trotta & Anna Bono
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