This is an early and rare example of a child’s beaded robe. The beauty of this robe comes from its understated simplicity. The isolated beaded strip has much power, sitting alone on a hide only colored with yellow ochre. The tapering at each end of the beaded strip gives it all the more power as […]
The top of the horn cup is wrapped in thick hide (3 3/4″ wide), looking and feeling like buffalo. The hide is fringed at the top with a row of light blue beads, followed by two rows of yellow beads. The design has a geometric layout in white, green deep blue and red with white […]
This is a rare pair of New Mexican tin candelabras, having been in one Santa Fe, NM family for three generations. The base is weighted (sand) and is stamped with small stars all in a line, between a “Y” figure stamp that is all connected around in two layers. The frame extension for the top […]
This pipe bag is likely Arapahoe and dates to around 1870 with very small beads. The hide appears to be young buffalo or elk. The workmanship is excellent as are the designs and strong use of color. The top has four, small tabs and the whole rim is beaded as are the edges of the […]
This Isleta tin retablo is in excellent condition. The four glass sides are painted on the reverse showing a wavy pattern in red, yellow and green. The print is of an angle guiding the Christ child and it’s advertising a doctor’s remedy with pills. It reads in English: Dr. Ross’s Life Pills, A Surefire Remedy.
The legend of Santa Librata is a certainly interesting: the daughter of a king, she was betrothed to a man she did not wish to marry, so she took a vow of celibacy to prevent the marriage. The day after she took the vow, she sprouted a beard, and her suitor departed. Her angry father […]
This is a beautiful Mexican, tin retablo of Our Lady of Sorrows. The condition is very good and the color contrasts strong. The bird on her left on top of the pillar is particularly sweet. Our Lady of Sorrows refers to the Virgin Mary, highlighting her intense suffering during the Passion of her son, Jesus. This […]
This is one of the finest Kiowa strike a light bags that I have seen. The front design is bold and powerful – a simple tower built by steps of white, deep blue, and burgundy beads all set on a lighter blue background. The sides are trimmed with white beads. The back is beaded on […]
This tin mirror still holds the original mirror. The extravagant flairs around the border are characteristic of the Rio Arriba workshop. The corners each have a bulbous arm coming out and angling back. The top is a complicated array of shapes culminating with a circle in the center. The tin is all punched with designs […]
19th Century oil on tin retablo La Mano Poderosa, or The Powerful Hand of God – sometimes referred to as Los Cinco Personas, a reference to the extended Holy Family in the upper quadrant. The five figures at the top represent Anne, Mary, Santo Nino, Joseph, and Joachim. In the lower quadrant, blood is flowing […]
