This Northern Plains skull cracker is in very good condition. The head is well carved catlinite secured with a hide binder connecting the head to the haft. The haft is wood and is encased with rawhide, sewn up the side with hide strips. On top of this rawhide layer is a coil of hide wrapped […]
This Pueblo tool is very much like item 2495, only not nearly as old. This example of a wood adze is likely late 19th to early 20th century. The haft is clearly hand made, and the iron is shaped, not molded. This is a powerful tool for digging into wood. Check out the much earlier […]
This is a wonderful and early tool, 19th century for sure and possibly earlier. It’s thought to be like an adze, for wood cutting. The iron has a complex shape and looks like it could really scoop or chop out ample wood pieces. The haft patina is amazing, with one side more exposed to the […]
This is a rare and beautiful example of a Comanche or Kiowa child’s bow with three arrows. The wood is Osage Orange, or Bodark, and has the great color and patina of warm honey. The feathers on the arrows are turkey. Use is evident in the darker color towards the center where the hands would […]
This is a great, old wheelbarrow with lots of character. The original label has a price of $2,695, from a company named Valley Furniture and Interiors. I’m told that this was a store in Albuquerque that no longer exists. The wheelbarrow was built by mortise and tenon with very little hardware. Metal reinforcements have been […]
This is an intriguing buffalo stick. Measuring 17″ long and made of wood, it’s a staff with a buffalo head at the top. The head end, as well as the hump, appear to be a small burl due to how the wood grain is wavy and circular. The head has ears and horns made of […]
This is an early wire wrapped pipe tomahawk with provenance. The tribal affiliation is unknown. The consensus on the dating is before the reservation period, perhaps as late as 1865. The head is likely earlier than this, dating to the first half of the 19th century. The haft may be original to the head, but […]
This is a beautiful retablo, but I’m having a hard time placing its origin. The paints appear to be water based and the wood is likely pine. There is a candle burn mark at the base on the left half. All of these points are indicative of New Mexican retablos coming out of the first […]
This is a small and sweet retablo on wood by Jorge Sanchez, a santero from Albuquerque, NM. It shows Our Lady of Sorrows. The back is titled and signed by the maker.
Here’s a beautifully executed retablo on wood by Jose Benito Ortega of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Written on the back: This old Spanish painting was brought from the Old Church in Zia, N.M. Church built in 1683
