Native American Art Sale at Bonhams

Bonhams will present a sale of fine Native American art in San Francisco on June 1.  Showcasing an extensive range of works from traditional cultures across the North American continent, the lots on offer will include beaded garments from the Plains, Southwestern ceramics and katsina, Northwest Coast masks, Arctic artifacts, and much more. 

View the online catalogue.

Boy's shirt  -  Lakota Sioux

Mask  -  Tsimshian

Effigy figure  -  Okvik (Eskimo)

Images courtesy of Bonhams

Eskimo & Northwest Coast Art at Jacaranda Tribal

Jacaranda Tribal has just revealed a beautiful new assemblage of tribal art and artifacts from the Arctic and the Pacific Northwest. This new ensemble of objects, as charming as it is fascinating, comprises a range of Eskimo works from Alaska and Greenland – miniatures, dolls, ritual items, and hunting equipment – along with a pair of ceremonial items from British Columbia. The selections in the newest online exhibition are illustrated below. For more details on these fine offerings and many, many more, please visit

www.jacarandatribal.com

Bird mask - Nunivak Island, Alaska 

Hamat'sa headdress  -  Kwakiutl, British Columbia

Mask  -  Cup'ig, Alaska

Raven rattle  -  Bella Coola, British Columbia

Hunter's amulets  -  Eskimo, Alaska

Bag fastener in the form of a fish  -  Eskimo, Alaska

Hunter's amulet  -  Eskimo, Alaska

Figurine  -  Eskimo, Alaska

Eight dolls  -  Yup'ik, Alaska

Model kayak  -  Eskimo, Greenland

Model kayak  -  Eskimo, Alaska  -  Ca 1200–1300 CE 

Archer's wristguard  -  Eskimo, Alaska

Pipe  -  Eskimo, Siberia

Tom cod lure  -  Eskimo, North America

Pair of fishing lures  -  Eskimo, North America

Fishing kit  -  Eskimo, North America

Images ©James Worrell 2014

www.jacarandatribal.com

Plumes in Vichy

Through October 31, feathers are the focus at the Musée des Arts d'Afrique in Vichy.  Plumes (Feathers) includes works both owned by the museum and drawn from private collections, and its unique approach is a mix of art history and ethno-ornithology. Beginning with the premise that man has always been fascinated with birds, the exhibition examines the place of the bird in five of the world's regions: India, China, Côte d'Ivoire, New Guinea, and the United States. The installation features objects that have feathers as elements of their construction as well as representations in which the bird is the central subject of the work.

View the exhibition's official website.

Shaman's hairpin with raven head  -  Tlingit, Northwest Coast  -  Early 20th century

Image courtesy of the Musée des Arts d'Afrique, Vichy

Tribal Art Sale at Christie's

Christie's will hold a double auction today in Paris highlighting tribal works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. African objects will be by far the most numerous in the second sale, which will feature a selection of sixty-six pieces from among the three hundred objects that make up the collection of Léonore and Rudolf Blum.

View the online catalogues.

Ceremonial headdress  -  Tsimshian or Haisla, Northwest Coast

Battle dagger  -  Tlingit, Northwest Coast

Mask  -  Bete/Guro, Côte d'Ivoire

Lime spatula  -  Massim, Papua New Guinea

Kifwebe mask  -  Songye, D.R. Congo

Mask  -  Bamana, Mali

 Images courtesy of Christie's

American Indian and Ethnographic Art at Skinner

Skinner will present a sale of fine Native American antiques and other traditional art in Boston today, November 9.  Among the lots will be a wide range of exquisite North American items from the Southwest to the Woodlands, as well as Maori carvings from New Zealand, figurative ceramics from ancient Mexico, and much more.

View the online catalogue.

Totem pole attributed to John Cross  -  Haida, Northwest Coast

Door lintel panel  -  Maori, New Zealand

Belt cup with portrait carving  -  Northeast

Images courtesy of Skinner Auction

Fishing Implements from Oceania and North America at Jacaranda Tribal

The practice of fishing has sustained coastal and seafaring tribes across the globe for some four hundred centuries. Fish hooks, those ancient inventions on which so many lives have depended, have passed through the generations in as many forms as there have been hands to craft them. At times ingenious, at times simplicity itself, these fragile works remind us that survival hangs by but a thread, and that the shapes of beauty often spring from our deepest needs.

Jacaranda Tribal is currently presenting an online exhibition of fishing implements from all quarters of the Pacific, from ancient Eskimo charms to enchanting, iridescent hooks from Melanesia. Their striking sculptural qualities matched only by their astounding variety, these miniature masterpieces are triumphs of age-old artistry.

Selections from the exhibition are on display here.

For a closer look at these beautiful pieces and many more, please visit

www.jacarandatribal.com

Fish hook  -  Hawaiian Islands, Polynesia

Bonito hook  -  Solomon Islands, Melanesia

Eskimo fish charm  -  North America

Pair of fish hooks  -  Hawaiian Islands, Polynesia

Eskimo hand rig  -  North America

Fish hook  -  Wuvulu Island, Papua New Guinea

Trio of fish hooks  -  Polynesia

Pair of fish hooks  -  Marshall Islands, Melanesia

Trio of fish hooks  -  Pacific

Halibut hook  -  Northwest Coast

Fish hook  -  Nukuoro Atoll, Caroline Islands, Micronesia

Prehistoric Eskimo fish hook  -  North America

Quartet of fish hooks  -  Tahiti, French Polynesia

www.jacarandatribal.com

Images property of Jacaranda Tribal - Copyright James Worrell 2013

Les maîtres du désordre

A new exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly presents the figures of disorder, both mythic and mortal.  Shamans and other intercessors are here dubbed "masters of disorder," responsible for negotiations with the forces of chaos.  In a constant compromise between turbulence and reason, rituals are the preferred mode of propitiation toward the powers that govern human societies.  Les maîtres du désordre presents objects, costumes and representations from major anthropological collections alongside contemporary works by Annette Messager, Jean-Michel Alberola, Thomas Hirschhorn, and others.

Visit the official website.

Ndungu mask with costume  -  Kongo, DR Congo  -  19th century

Mask depicting Chinasupay  -  Bolivia  -  Early 20th century

Mask depicting a shaman in trance with auxiliary spirits  -  Northwest Coast  -  1840–1860

Magical figure  -  Loango  -  19th century

Sourvaskar costume  -  Bulgaria  -  20th century

Information and images courtesy of the Musée du Quai Branly