DALLAS, TX.- A ruler in elaborate dress and headdress appears to dance and speak or sing, two attendants — one wearing a jaguar pelt and head — joining in, bundles and a short mushroom-shaped pillar on the palace floor between them.
The scene was painted on the outside of a Maya polychrome cylinder vase sometime around 600 to 800 CE and tells one tale that has been lost to time, but which nonetheless is a part of the vast and complicated story of the Americas. This vase is just one of the many artifacts spanning from Pre-Columbian time to the present belonging to the incredible, evocative collection of one Scottsdale, Arizona, couple, who will offer them to the public in Heritage’s Sept. 13 William and Joey Ridenour Ethnographic Art, Western Memorabilia, & Antique Firearms Signature® Auction.
Delia Sullivan, Heritage Auctions’ Ethnographic Art Director, marveled at the immensity of this trove of items assembled by William Ridenour, a lawyer and past chair and board member at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, and wife Joey Ridenour, executive director at the Arizona Board of Nursing.
In addition to the palace-scene vase, several other Maya cylinder vases are up for bids, which itself is remarkable, Sullivan says.
“These are orange vases with scenes of rulers and others painted in dark orange and black or brown,” she says. “They are very interesting in that they tell a story in the round. I don’t see a lot of them in any given season, so it’s unusual to have so many in one sale.”
Among other Pre-Columbian artifacts are large ceramic figures from West Mexican cultures including a lively 22-1/2-inch monumental Jalisco seated figure, a matched Nayarit couple and a Chinesco woman seated in the birthing position.
Sullivan also finds special significance in two lots comprising three enigmatic Valdivia stone figures from Ecuador: a lot of two smaller ones and a single larger one, each depicting a stylized owl — or a shaman shape-shifting into one.
“They are very mysterious,” Sullivan says. “No one knows what they were used for. They were probably used in a ritual, but with cultures that old, any kind of record of their function within ancient society is lost. We think they’re owls, probably a symbol of navigating in dark. Otherworldly creatures that could see in the dark — owls and bats — held special significance for them.”
These stone steles are likely idols used in ritual contexts and date to circa 2300-2000 BCE. Such objects from Ecuador can date back as far as the fourth millennium BCE and are the oldest stone sculptures known to exist in the New World.
Pre-Columbian artifacts also include several gold objects created by skilled goldsmiths and used in both daily life and rituals, including a fascinating surrealistic Tairona sheet-gold maskette with a set of dangling gold eyes with mother of pearl irises suspended by gold wires above the face.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Sullivan says. “It could have been worn on a person as a pendant or hung on their face or attached to the face of a wood statue. It would indicate divine status, transforming the wearer.”
A lot of 16 Anasazi black-on-white ladles displayed on a custom metal stand would make for an instant collection. The auction has a special focus on American Indian pottery from the same time period as some of the pre-Columbian material from Anasazi, Mimbres, Jeddito, Four Mile, Pinedale and Sikyatki cultures as well as post-contact objects including contemporary Hopi and San Ildefonso work.
American Indian Group Headed by Deep Selection of Apache Lots
The Ridenours are such passionate collectors of American Indian items they dedicated an entire room of their house just for those from and relating to Apache people, with several periodicals, photographs and artifacts featuring or having belonged to legendary chief Geronimo — including his personal knife and even hairs from his head.
Collectors of all levels are sure to find something in the vast selection of American Indian items. A Sioux beaded hide war shirt, a rare Crow beaded hide cradleboard and a Crow rifle scabbard are three other highlights. Sullivan is especially proud of the five Plains beaded hide baby carriers, calling it “extraordinary” to have so many in a single auction.
Other fascinating American Indian pieces include coiled basketry, beaded moccasins, painted hide, clothing, pouches, bowcases and quivers, and much more. Along with antique beadwork, this sale includes a few lots of contemporary art: two model tip is and a hide depicting Custer’s Last Stand, among others.
Custer Items Headline Western Memorabilia
The Ridenour Collection has an interesting selection of items related to Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, from his life before the legendary June 25-26, 1876, battle where he met his demise as well as lots related to the Battle of Little Big Horn, Custer’s Last Stand or, as it was referred to by the victorious coalition of Lakota, Dakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors, the Battle of the Greasy Grass.
Custer’s 7th Cavalry footlocker, a letter from his wife and an elk skin jacket worn by Custer are highlights of his personal items.
Collectors of historically significant arms will be especially interested in various items related to Sgt. John Ryan, who was reported to have fired the last shot of the Battle of Little Big Horn. Lots include documents and a saber related to his Civil War and Indian Wars service as well as a Winchester Model 1873 rifle owned by Ryan.
Rounding out the Western history lots are a selection of other important firearms including a Colt Model 1860 Army revolver with period leather holster, a Plains rifle scabbard and Western Arms Co. single-shot 12 gauge decorated with Plains-style brass tacks, and a Remington 1858 revolver modified to accept a longer cylinder for .410 shotshells, which were reportedly filled with rock salt for use in Wild West shows. This story is further supported by the bore’s copper plating, which would have helped prevent corrosion.
