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Easter Island Figure Sells for $36,800 at Skinner Auction
Bolton, MA - Bidding from an international audience resulted in a very successful
auction of American Indian and Ethnographic Art at Skinner on January 6, with
a Carved Wood Easter Island Male Figure leading the offerings at $36,800. Once
part of the Nelson Rockefeller Collection, the work had been exhibited at The
Art Institute of Chicago and at the Museum of Primitive Art. Said department
director Douglas Deihl of the piece, "It was absolutely classic in terms of
its carving… a masterpiece."
Early in the sale, a Pre-Columbian Mayan Polychrome Plate set the pace, more
than doubling its estimate selling for $4,312.50. Following the Pre-Columbian
items were over 75 lots of African art from a wide variety of cultures, led
by an African Carved Wood Male Figure from the Baule culture that sold for $4,600,
and an African Carved Wood Mask from the Chokwe culture that brought $4,887.50.
Highlighting the American Indian selections was a beautiful variation of a
Navajo third phase chief’s blanket from a Worcester, Massachusetts collection.
Expected to realize $15/20,000, the weaving drew substantial interest and sold
for $34,500. Other weavings included a late Navajo Child’s Blanket reputedly
from the collection of Sheldon Jackson that sold for $4,600 and a Germantown
example that went for $4,025. The large selection of Southwestern pottery featured
a San Ildefonso Polychrome Lidded Pottery Olla that fetched $17,250, a Large
Cotchiti Pueblo Pottery Bowl that sold for $11,500, and a Hopi Polychrome Pottery
Olla that reached $8,050, among other examples.
Additional highlights included a late 19th century California Polychrome
Coiled Basketry Bowl that sold for $5,750, an Apache Coiled Basketry Bowl that
brought $4,887.50, and an Apache Coiled Figurative Basketry Olla that realized
$4,312.50. Beadwork items also drew interest. A pair of Central Plains Beaded
Hide Pictorial Woman’s Leggings realized $10,925, a Central Plains Beaded Hide
Possible Bag $6,325, and a Plains Beaded Hide Mirror Bag $4,737.50. Other offerings
included two exceptional pipe bowls: a Plains Carved Catlinite Pipe Bowl and
a Northwest Coast Carved Argillite Pipe carved by the Haida that sold for $4,025
and $2,990 respectively. An Edward Curtis orotone of the Pika Maker went for
$5,750.
Over the past three years, Skinner has featured selected lots in each of its
auctions of American Indian art to be sold to benefit The American Indian College
Fund. This auction offered three lots: a contemporary Zuni Silver and Turquoise
Necklace and a contemporary Southwest Silver Necklace with a stamp decorated
hollow bear pendant that sold for $230 each, and a contemporary Navajo weaving
that realized $402.50. It is Skinner’s hope to continue this effort to benefit
the Fund in the future.
Consignments are currently being accepted for Skinner’s next auction of American
Indian and Ethnographic Art. For more information, call Douglas Deihl at 978.779.6241,
or fax 978.779.5144.
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