Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1930s
Antler, sinew, crow and turkey feathers, turquoise
Length 11¼ in (28.6 cm)
Provenance: Steve Nelson, Redondo Beach, CA; Tony Berlant, Santa Monica, CA (inventory #555)
Teddy Weahkee (1890–1965) occupies a singular place in the history of Zuni art, working across jewelry, painting, shell mosaic, and fetish carving with a command rooted in both traditional knowledge and direct engagement with the archaeological record of his people. His participation in excavations at Hawikuh Pueblo gave him firsthand exposure to ancestral Zuni objects, and this contact is consistently reflected in the materials and forms he chose, antler, sinew, turquoise, and feathers drawn from the landscape and trade networks of Zuni Pueblo. He was among the very first Zuni artists to produce fetish objects for outside collectors, and his work reached the broader market through C.G. Wallace and other important Southwestern traders.
This fetish presents a long, darkened antler form dressed with an elaborate arrangement of crow and turkey feathers and bound with sinew, with turquoise set into the composition — a configuration that demonstrates Weahkee's characteristic integration of natural materials into objects of ceremonial resonance. The piece shares provenance with a companion fetish in this collection, both having passed through Steve Nelson in Redondo Beach and Tony Berlant in Santa Monica, two collectors with serious engagement with Native American material. Works by Weahkee at this level of completeness and with this depth of provenance are seldom available.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico
1930s
Antler, sinew, crow and turkey feathers, turquoise
Length 11¼ in (28.6 cm)
Provenance: Steve Nelson, Redondo Beach, CA; Tony Berlant, Santa Monica, CA (inventory #555)
Teddy Weahkee (1890–1965) occupies a singular place in the history of Zuni art, working across jewelry, painting, shell mosaic, and fetish carving with a command rooted in both traditional knowledge and direct engagement with the archaeological record of his people. His participation in excavations at Hawikuh Pueblo gave him firsthand exposure to ancestral Zuni objects, and this contact is consistently reflected in the materials and forms he chose, antler, sinew, turquoise, and feathers drawn from the landscape and trade networks of Zuni Pueblo. He was among the very first Zuni artists to produce fetish objects for outside collectors, and his work reached the broader market through C.G. Wallace and other important Southwestern traders.
This fetish presents a long, darkened antler form dressed with an elaborate arrangement of crow and turkey feathers and bound with sinew, with turquoise set into the composition — a configuration that demonstrates Weahkee's characteristic integration of natural materials into objects of ceremonial resonance. The piece shares provenance with a companion fetish in this collection, both having passed through Steve Nelson in Redondo Beach and Tony Berlant in Santa Monica, two collectors with serious engagement with Native American material. Works by Weahkee at this level of completeness and with this depth of provenance are seldom available.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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