Maine Antique Digest April 2015

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26-B Maine Antique Digest, April 2015
- AUCTION -
The salesroom at Bonhams,
San Francisco, California,
was standing room only.
The parking lot was totally full.
The tribe—dealers and collec-
tors from Denver, Colorado;
Scottsdale, Tucson, and Prescott,
Arizona; Santa Fe and Albuquer-
que, New Mexico; New York
City; Hershey, Pennsylvania;
Reno, Nevada; and Mill Valley
and Venice, California, etc.—
had gathered for Bonhams’s
semiannual Native American art
auction on December 8, 2014.
A star lot—a rare and getting
rarer Navajo Ute-style first-
phase chief’s blanket estimated
at $200,000/300,000—didn’t
sell. “A buy-in of a $200,000
blanket puts a deep hole in
the total sales,” which were
$1,370,520, said Bonhams’s
Native American art special-
ist Jim Haas. Haas, however,
said there would probably be a
post-sale buyer—as he spoke to
M.A.D., the blanket was already
on its way to what Haas hoped
would be its new home.
Some of the material with
the highest estimates (and sell-
ing prices) was contempo-
rary—pieces by Tony Da, Al
Qoyawayma, Charles Loloma,
and Roxanne Swentzell. “It’s
a sign of the times,” said Haas,
“but it can be difficult to match
the inflated retail prices” some
of the pieces sold for a few years
ago.
Haas plans to retire from Bon-
hams after the June 1, 2016, sale
in San Francisco (“three more
auctions!”).
For more information, check
the Web site .
com) or call (415) 861-7500.
Bonhams, San Francisco, California
$1.37 Million Indian Arts Sale
by Alice Kaufman
Photos courtesy Bonhams
Last One Out, a 24" high bronze casting by Rox-
anne Swentzell (b. 1962), sold for $25,000 (est.
$20,000/30,000) to a collector in New Mexico, “a signif-
icant buyer in this auction,” said Haas.
Mother’s Blessing, a 22" high x 33" wide bronze
by Allan Houser (1914-1994), sold to an Arizona
collector for $35,000 (est. $20,000/30,000).
A 14 3/8" high Hopi doll
portraying a grandfather
clown sold for $10,625 (est.
$5000/8000) to a Bay Area
collector. Haas commented,
“She has stepped in and
bought wonderful kachinas
in the past. She knows what
she likes.” Another Allan Houser bronze, Dreams
for the Future, 18½" high x 17" wide,
sold for $13,750 (est. $12,000/18,000) to
a gallery owner in New Jersey.
A third (of four) Allan Houser
bronzes in the auction, Silent
Observer, sold to a Bay Area
collector for $10,000 (est.
$10/000/15,000).
A 30½" high New Mexican retablo
sold to a New Mexican dealer for
$12,500 (est. $5000/8000).
Pueblo Bonito, 11¼" high x 17¼" diameter, a cream-
ware vessel characteristic of Hopi sculptor/pot-
ter Al Qoyawayma (b. 1938), sold for $10,625 (est.
$8000/12,000) to a New York collector.
A 10" high Haida argillite fig-
ural carving sold for $11,250
(est. $10,000/15,000) to the
same British collector who
bought the Chilkat blanket
and other lots as well. “He
usually won’t take no for an
answer,” said Haas.
A Pueblo of Isleta cross necklace,
15¾" long, sold to a Texas collec-
tor for $10,625 (est. $5000/8000).
A 7" high x 5¾" diameter lidded
sgraffito redware jar with inset tur-
quoise by Tony Da (1940-2008),
San Ildefonso, sold for $22,500 (est.
$15,000/20,000) to the same New Jer-
sey gallery owner who bought one of
the Allan Houser bronzes.
A Northwest
Coast raven
rattle, 13" long,
sold to an East
Coast dealer for
$62,500 ( est.
$20,000/40,000).
A Tlingit or Haida
raven rattle,
12½" long, sold
for $50,000 (est.
$20,000/30,000), a
nice surprise for
Jim Haas and the
consignor. Haas said
the piece, bought by
a dealer, “is going
home to Canada.”
A Northwest Coast Chilkat blan-
ket, 56" long x 73" wide, sold for
$35,000 (est. $30,000/50,000) to a
collector from England.