Bonhams is to host its third annual Arts and Artifacts of the Americas auction, September 10 in San Francisco, featuring items from the Robert “Trader Bob” Bayuk Collection and the Nancy Sue and Judson C. Ball Collection. The auction will be comprised of approximately 500 lots of desirable art and artifacts for a range of collecting levels.
From the Robert “Trader Bob” Bayuk Collection will come more than 150 lots of Native American art, with a focus on basketry from California, the Southwest and the Northwest, including a Tubatulabul polychrome bottleneck basket (est. $1,500-2,500). The collection will also feature Southwest jewelry, Pueblo pottery and a variety of materials from the Plains and Northwest Coast, ranging in estimate from $500-2,500.
From the Nancy Sue and Judson C. Ball Collection will be more than 40 lots of (mostly Hopi) kachina dolls, ranging in estimate from $500-2,500. The Balls’ avidly collected Hopi and Zuni katsina (variant of kachina) since the 1970s, with Mr. Ball’s interest starting as a child in the 1950s when he visited a Hopi reservation. Mr. Ball has said not only are these simple carvings attractive toys, but also “they represent the continuum or circle of life.”
The sale will continue on to feature about 50 lots of Plains materials from various private owners, ranging in estimate from $500-6,000. One example from this section will be a Sioux beaded child’s vest (est. $1,500-2,500).
Jewelry, too, will be a focal point of the sale, with more than 50 examples available, primarily from the Navajo and Zuni tribes of the Southwest. One such lot will comprise five Navajo or Zuni bracelets (est. $600-800).
Wrapping up the sale will be about 50 lots of Pre-Columbian art and artifacts from several private collections, ranging in estimate from $500-4,000. A highlight from this section, from western Mexico, is a Jalisco seated couple, Protoclassic period, circa 100 BC–250 AD (est. $3,000-5,000).
The illustrated auction catalog for the sale will be available online for review and purchase in the weeks preceding the sale at www.bonhams.com.
Auction Preview: September 7-10, San Francisco
Auction: September 10, San Francisco