Tribal Art Sale at Skinner

On November 7 in Boston, Skinner will hold an eclectic auction of American Indian and ethnographic art including objects collected by Captain William Trotter during his voyages in the Pacific and Atlantic between 1781 and 1796. Included will be a rare eight-foot-long Tongan spear club presented to Trotter by a Tongan king during a re-provisioning stopover in 1796 and an Aleutian Island straw purse produced by a culture known for its exceptionally fine twining. Trotter’s ship logs from these voyages were recently sold by Skinner for $22,140.

View the online catalogue.

Aleutian Islands purse  -  Late 19th century

Hide painted by Chiricahua Apache Naiche  -  Late 19th/early 20th century

Tongan spear-club  -  Mid-18th century

Navajo Third Phase chief's blanket  -  Ca 1870s

Dag knife  -  Mid-19th century

Kiowa man's painted hide shirt  -  Late 19th century

Images courtesy of Skinner

They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets

It is no secret that the Navajo (who call themselves the Diné) excelled at weaving. While most of their textiles were produced for trade, they had a strong tradition of producing saddle blankets for their own horses. These weavings span the duration of Navajo weaving from the first half of the nineteenth century to the present. The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is currently presenting They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets, an exhibition that examines innovation and continuity in this quiet but important indigenous tradition. It also looks at the variety of weaving techniques employed as well as the range of yarns from which these blankets were formed.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Information and images courtesy of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe