Pre-Columbian jade and gold, Hopi jewelry from Charles Loloma and more lead Heritage auction
A Magnificent Olmec Mask. Gulf Coast, Mexico, c. 1200-400 BC. Height: 9 inches. Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000.
DALLAS, TX.—
This June 13, Heritage’s Ethnographic Art Signature® Auction includes outstanding examples of American Indian, Pre-Columbian, and Tribal Art. “This auction brings together an extraordinary range of ethnographic art—from the refined abstraction of ancient Olmec carving to the bold visual language of Cheyenne beadwork,” says Delia Sullivan, Heritage’s Director of Ethnographic Art. “With over 500 lots, there is something for every collector: accessible works for new enthusiasts and rare, museum-quality pieces with deep cultural resonance.”
A Stunning Pre-Columbian Jade Mask
Objects carved from jade were the most valuable possessions in ancient Olmec society, the "mother culture” of Mesoamerica. Jade remains cool to the touch—a magical quality in the tropics—and its blue-green color was associated with water and growing plants, making it a symbol of life-force and agricultural fertility. Elegant masks in the distinctive, idealized Olmec style are among the most iconic artifacts of Mesoamerican art, and Heritage is pleased to offer a stunning, slightly larger-than-life Olmec jade mask, c. 1200-400 BC, which was in the collection of the actress Merle Oberon. As with famous examples in the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City, this mask’s nostrils and earlobes are drilled through, hinting at the possibility of mounting or attachment.
In recent seasons, Heritage has been a strong presence in Pre-Columbian gold, and this auction extends that record with 16 works ranging from jewelry and personal ornaments to marvelously intact figures. This whimsical 5-inch Veraguas Gold Shark Pendant from Central America shows sharply pointed shark teeth on the underside of the mouth. Two large, important Gran Cocle male figures, one depicted with bird wings and the other grasping the necks of serpents whose bodies curl up the back of his head, are both in very good condition, as is a rare Calima gold portrait mask. Unlike most flat, generic Calima masks, this one—probably a portrait—has features that are unique and individualized, its face set in a fierce expression.
Other notable pre-Columbian objects include an obsidian Toltec Mask with a mirror-like finish. Solid obsidian masks are extremely rare because the material—volcanic glass—is fragile and difficult to shape on a large scale. A jade Axe God pendant from Costa Rica, which would have been worn by an elite warrior, shaman, or leader, is a superb and powerful example with an unusually intense demeanor.
American Indian Group Headed by Loloma Bracelet and Second Phase Chief’s Blanket
The auction features 82 lots in the favorite collector category of American Indian and Alaskan Eskimo jewelry. Charles Loloma (1921-1991), a pioneering Hopi artist who helped redefine Native American jewelry in the 20th century, was collected by Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright, and in the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson commissioned pieces from Loloma to be presented to the Queen of Denmark. An inlaid Hopi bracelet by Loloma features a vibrant mosaic of stones, each precisely carved to fit together with fine-line silver accent spacers. A charming Alaskan Eskimo Transformation Ring titled Seal Hunt, by Denise Wallace, features a stylized silver mask that opens to reveal a smiling face carved in fossilized walrus ivory. In Alaskan Native cosmology, transformation—the ability to shift between human and animal forms—is an important symbol of communication with the spirit world, and Wallace’s enchanting ring, with its hidden face, suggests a similar, inner transformation of the wearer.
In the area of Navajo weavings, 14 examples ranging from the mid-19th to early 20th century include a spectacular Navajo man's wearing blanket in a Second Phase chief's pattern, most likely created during the Civil War. This blanket, tightly woven of handspun wool in natural ivory and brown and indigo-dyed blue, is an excellent example of the austere elegance of the Second Phase. Additionally, sought-after Germantown weavings from the turn of the century feature bright zigzags and elaborate diamond patterns in vibrant colors. These objects marked a transition in Navajo weaving—instead of shearing and hand-spinning wool, Native weavers used fine, commercial-grade yarn imported from Germantown, PA that allowed for very tight weavings.
In the early 1800s, Venetian glass beads first entered Indigenous trade networks via fur trade routes, and this Cree quilled hide pouch with both beadwork and quillwork sits at this fascinating intersection of cultures. At the time, traditional quillwork, which involved laboriously soaking and dyeing porcupine quills and stitching them into patterns, was still considered the more prestigious material, and remained dominant for high-status items like this bag. Later beadwork from the Reservation Period include Cheyenne knife sheaths, moccasins, and a rare Cheyenne / Arapaho beaded bow case and quiver, all from the Bill Boyd Collection, known for works in excellent condition. Among the Plains tribes, Cheyenne beaded objects, which use tinier beads, are rarer (there were only 8,000 Cheyenne compared with 40,000 Sioux at the time), and thus are more desirable.
This auction also includes very good Mimbres pots, among the most iconic and enigmatic ceramics in North American archaeology. These pots were placed over the face in a burial, and so-called “kill holes” were intentionally drilled to release the spirit. They are rare and desirable, whether featuring abstract designs or whimsical figures such as a bird, fish, or in rare examples, polychrome figures.
Rounding out the pottery are several excellent canteens, including this stunning polychrome Sikyatki canteen, from the ancient Hopi village of Sikyatki in present-day northeastern Arizona. These canteens represent the pinnacle of ceramic innovation in the prehistoric Hopi world, before Spanish contact.
Other notable objects in the American Indian section include two Yokuts polychrome pictorial coiled baskets by Mrs. Dick Francisco, one with a butterfly pattern and one ringed with figures. Of note are a Kiowa model cradleboard attributed to Lenna Geronimo, daughter of the famous Apache leader, and a Potawatomi prescription stick, used in traditional healing practices, which was unearthed near the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation in Topeka, Kansas in 2004.
Tribal Highlights
A highlight among the Tribal objects is this large and imposing Bobo Helmet Mask from Burkina Faso, which, mounted on its stand, is six feet tall. This molo mask, associated with male spiritual power, is in the form of a large antelope head carved from heavy hardwood, the whole with a very fine patina of age and use. Also of note is a superb Solomon Islands war club from Melanesia, inlaid with carefully graduated shell pieces and in excellent condition; and an expressionistic Malakula Ceremonial Puppet from Vanuatu, which depicts a male spirit figure atop a conch shell, his arms and legs spread out. Finally, the auction includes a number of very good masks, shields, and ornaments from the Dayak people in the South Seas.
