June 3 Native American art auction at Bonhams

Bonhams looks forward to presenting a 523-lot sale of Native American art, June 3 in San Francisco. The sale will feature historic basketry, fine textiles, jewelry, kachina dolls and pottery from various owners, including more than 200 lots of property from the Jim and Lauris Phillips Collection, San Marino, CA. Many examples from the Phillips’ amazing basket collection of more than 400 baskets, mostly from California, will be portioned out in this and future sales.

Northwest Coast and Eskimo highlights in the sale will include a food storage box of bentwood construction (est. $35,000-45,000); two separate Northwest Coast Chilkat blankets (est. $30,000-40,000 and $12,000-18,000); and a Haida argillite panel pipe (est. $25,000-35,000). A selection of masks, such as a Yupik Eskimo mask in the form of a seal in an oval frame with a bird head protruding from the bottom (est. $30,000-50,000); an Eskimo mask, conceived as a split-faced entity within the body of a spotted seal (est. $20,000-30,000); and an Alaskan mask – Yupik or Athabaskan (est. $15,000-20,000), will be on offer. From the Canadian Arctic there will be a John Tiktak stone sculpture, Kangiqliniq/Rankin Inlet, depicting a mother and child (est. $20,000-40,000).
Plains, Plateau, and Woodlands material includes a rare Nez Perce or related double cylinder cornhusk bag (est. $6,000-9,000); a pony-beaded Arapaho tobacco bag (est. $20,000-25,000); a superb Santee Sioux puzzle pipe (est. $20,000-30,000) and an Eastern Sioux burlwood effigy bowl (est. $10,000-15,000). There will also be two groups of three ledger drawings per lot (est. $7,000-10,000); Cheyenne and Sioux moccasins; a Sioux beaded dress, a collection of canes and a bowcase. A number of fine clubs, axes and other wooden artifacts will hit the block, such as a “vine” tomahawk, attributed to the Shawnee (est. $8,000-12,000); a Great Lakes ball head club (est. $20,000-30,000); an early Northeast gunstock club (est. $8,000-12,000); a figural ladle (est. $7,000-10,000); an Eastern ball head club (est. $6,000-9,000); and a trade “dag” knife (est. $4,000-6,000).

Fine baskets are particularly abundant in this auction. Offerings will include a coastal Miwok gift basket (est. $8,000-12,000); a brilliant Maidu polychrome tray by Selena Jackson (est. $4,000-6,000); examples of Mission rattlesnake trays (est. from $5,000-7,000 to $3,000-5,000); a Wiyot-Karuk lidded polychrome basket, attributed to Louise Hickox (est. $15,000-20,000); an unusual Yokuts polychrome basket – likely by Lucinda Hancock (est. $20,000-40,000); a dynamic Yokuts polychrome gambling tray (est. at $20,000-30,000); two rare Chumash polychrome baskets (each est. $20,000-30,000); and a Chumash polychrome tray (est. $10,000-15,000)

Offerings from the Southwest will include a very large and fine Hopi polychrome pottery storage jar, by legendary potter Nampeyo, decorated with three images of the eagle tail composition (est. $80,000-120,000); a San Ildefonso polychrome plate by Maria Martinez (est. $10,000-15,000); and one of the finest arrays of historic pottery offered in years. Contemporary works include three Diego Romero pottery bowls and a wonderful creation by Richard Zane Smith. In the jewelry section, one will find a Zuni fetish necklace by Leekya Desyee (est. $10,000-15,000); bracelets, a pendant and rings by Charles Loloma, with estimates from $2,000-3,000 to $7,000-10,000; and designs by Jesse Monogye and Raymond Yazzie. There will be many Zuni and Hopi kachina dolls, with examples from the late 19th century up to the 1930s, with expected prices ranging from $1,500-2,000 to $10,000-15,000.

The Southwest weavings section will present a Navajo classic second-phase chief’s blanket (est. $40,000-60,000); two separate examples of Navajo late classic/early transitional chief’s blankets (est. $12,000-18,000 and $10,000-15,000); two Navajo late classic Moki blankets and a child’s blanket (est. $20,000-3,000); and a sizable selection of Germantown and pictorial rugs.

For more information about the auction, please visit www.bonhams.com/auctions/20972/.