Fresh to market Late Classic Navajo Children’s Wearing Blankets each expected to bring $25,000+ at public auction in Dallas

Artwork from many cultures showcased in Heritage Auctions’ June 12 American Indian Art Auction

DALLAS, TX – A pair of Late Classic Navajo Children’s Wearing Blankets, in private hands for decades, headline the June 12 Signature® American Indian Art Auction at Heritage Auction Galleries. The auction will take place at the company headquarters, 3500 Maple Avenue. They both carry an estimate at $25,000+.

“Both of these blankets date to circa 1865,” said Delia E. Sullivan, Director of American Indian Art at Heritage Auction Galleries. “They are finely and tightly woven of the most desirable materials and the condition of each is nearly perfect.”

The first example is stunning in natural ivory, shades of indigo blue and green, cochineal-dyed red, and synthetic-dyed pale red, with a series of five crosses through the center, flanked by stepped zigzag bands and narrow stripes and a series of serrated motifs on either end. The second example shows classic shades of natural ivory, deep indigo blue, and lac and cochineal-dyed red, with a diamond chain through the center, flanked by a series of thin stripes, alternating with zigzag bands.

A Monumental Zia Polychrome Storage jar, c. 1925, is certain to gain the attention of serious American Indian art collectors, as pots of this size are fairly rare. The present specimen is painted in black and orange over a tan slip, with a series of three broad panels, each featuring a bird enclosed within floral and feather motifs. The jar is 17-½ inches in diameter – huge by any standards. It carries an estimate of $20,000+.

One of the more spectacular lots in the Heritage June 12 auction is a Potawatomi Beaded and Fringed Hide Jacket, circa 1860, with each side having stylized floral designs, stitched in various shades of opaque and translucent glass seed beads. The arms have similar designs arranged on either side of linear zigzag elements, stitched in similar colors of larger glass seed beads with hide fringe over the whole jacket. It is expected to bring $20,000+.

“Coats and jackets made by American Indians, but following Euro-American styles, constitute an intriguing blend of the two cultures,” said Sullivan. “Both groups borrowed from each other, but early on American Indians gave the objects their distinctive spin using native materials and techniques while incorporating introduced goods as well – beads in particular.”

Another decidedly intriguing piece of American Indian made clothing is a Sioux Beaded and Fringed Hide Dress, c. 1885, of exceptional beauty and craftsmanship. The piece displays Sioux symbolism all throughout the fully beaded bodice, sinew sewn and lane-stitched in classic bead colors, with each side decorated with a band of cross-hatched motifs, surmounted by a panel enclosing a series of three tipis alternating with cross motifs. Given the large size of this piece, it’s possible that it was created for a male seeking the higher status of an elder woman. It is estimated to bring $8,000+.

Further highlights include, but are not limited to:

Cree Beaded Cloth Bag, circa 1880: composed of black velvet, each side with floral designs in numerous shades of opaque and translucent glass seed beads, a rectangular loom-woven beadwork panel, enclosing small geometric motifs in similar colors, suspended below, red wool fringe along the bottom. Estimate: $6,000-$8,000.

Hopi Cottonwood Kachina Doll, circa 1900: Representing Navan, or the Velvet Shirt Kachina, with thick semi-circular feet and straight legs, rounded shoulders and bent arms hugging a black torso, wearing traditional white kilt with embroidered sash, and face mask featuring a tubular snout, surmounted by inverted V-shaped device over the tube mouth and rectangular eyes, the carved coiffure with whorl at back, mounted on wooden base. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000.

Western Great Lake Pipe, circa 1860: Composed of an ash wood stem, carved with "twisted" and flattened rectangular sections, the flattened top side decorated with hot file branding and incised "ribbon work" inset with rocker-engraved and stamped German silver geometric forms, the underside incised with a chain of quartered diamonds and linear zigzag designs, the twisted section with similar silver work along the lower edges; fitted into a T-shaped catlinite pipe bowl, with stippled floral and foliate designs. From a collection of Great Lakes material. The current owner’s grandfather was an agent on the Menominee Reservation in the early 1900s. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000.

Sioux Beaded Hide Doctor’s Bag, circa 1920: Sinew sewn and lane-stitched in various shades of opaque and translucent glass seed beads, one side with a pair of geometric devices centering a horse, the other with similar geometric devices centering a diamond element, metal fittings overlaid with commercial leather, key attached. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000.

Gannaway’s Osage Portraits, circa 1865: These photos are among the first ever printed on paper of Plains Indians. Extremely crisp albumen prints in CDV format made by Burrell Z. Gannaway at Fort Smith, Arkansas, during the first or second week of September, 1865. Two cards lack a printed back-stamp, like all of the Osage portraits at the British Museum. Four of the cards bear Gannaway's back-stamp, each with a different printed logo. These are the key evidence which, after a lapse of 145 years, reveals Gannaway as the photographer responsible for the important 1865 Osage series at the British Museum, with copy images at the National Anthropological Archives. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000.

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $600 million, and 500,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.

Want to get the up-to-the-minute updates and breaking news stories about Heritage Auctions? Get them as they happen at: Twitter.com/HeritagePress; Twitter.com/JimHalperin; Facebook: Heritage Auction Galleries. To view a compete archive of Heritage press releases go to: HA.com/PR. To link to this press release on your blog or Website: HA.com/PR-1846.