Brams Collection of Woodlands Indian Art

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bThe Peter Brams Collection of Important Woodlands Indian Artbbr bJanuary 17, 2012 at 10am ET.bbr bLots: 301 to 435bbrbr Please note in the catalogue lot numbers are listed 1 to 135.

bImportant Americana, Paintings, Furniture and Decorative Artsbbr bJanuary 17, 2012 at 10am ET.bbr bLots: 1 to 278b

I have a secret. I have had a long-term love affair with burl bowls and ladles; I am crazy about the stuff and have spent most of my life seeking items for my own collection, and treasure every piece as if it were a fine jewel.brbrSo, I can say with genuine gratitude and pride that it is a great honor for Keno Auctions to present and offer The Peter Brams Collection of Important Woodlands Indian Art. My love of Native American works, and burl in particular, goes back to when I was a young child. Growing up in Mohawk, NY, with my brother, Leslie, at the age of eleven, we discovered a small cache of bowls and ladles that were made by Woodland Indians - the thrill of it There were three experiences that had a tremendous effect on me regarding my introduction to carved wooden bowls and ladles, and I would like to share them with you.brbrbrThe Sleeper : One day, in 1970, we attended a garage sale near my boyhood home, and peeking out of a box just brought up from the cellar was a horse head - Leslie and I were practically overcome by excitement. As I examined the object I noticed the ears and eyes were delineated but the horse was actually the top of a burl ladle, with a wonderful patina and well worn surface; it was 15. I calmly snapped up the unrecognized treasure and once out of sight from the seller, we proceeded to do cartwheels on the lawnbrbrbrThe Sage: A year later, I met the revered collector and dealer Devere Card in Hamilton, NY, who was setting up the first exhibition of burl ever mounted in the United States. My parents began to regularly drop us off at Devere's home and we were allowed to run up the stairs to the inner sanctum - the -Burl Room-, where he kept his personal collection. I marveled over the organic yet contemporary aesthetic of the forms: the lushness and primal fecundity of a bowl and the well worn surface of its interior. The delicate carving of an effigy ladle, its paddle worn from centuries of use fascinated me. When I learned that these pieces were not only utilitarian but they had deep spiritual meaning to the Native Americans, I was hooked.brbrbrThe Failed Experiment: One day my father sawed a knotty wood burl off the side of a tree and I quickly grabbed the piece and started to hollow it out with a chisel and hammer. Leslie and I filled it with charcoal briquettes, much like the Indians might have done, but to keep the coals fiery hot we cheated and fanned them with a hairdryer. Dozens of hours were spent laboring over that bowl and we ended up with a thick walled, homely vessel. Today, that very bowl sits behind my desk. The experience humbled me, and made me appreciate how challenging it must have been for the Woodland Indians to create these beautiful, powerful sculptural yet functional objects, some using only stone tools. They were Masters of their craft.brbrbrThe artistry required to produce burl bowls, ladles and objects was passed down for centuries, through generations of Woodland Indians. The quality of the objects created was far superior to that of the European settlers that came to America from the 17th through 19th centuries and their great sculptural beauty transcends time and aesthetic. Great art should trigger a visceral reaction. Great objects have an inner light that draws you in and envelopes you. Peter Bram's collection of Woodlands Indian Art speaks to me on many, many levels in an astounding way. Thank you, Peter, for sharing the passion that you so fervently have for Woodlands Indian Art. Your love for and dedication to this art form has helped build a collection that is simply unprecedented in terms of quality, rarity, condition and provenance.brbrbr-Leigh Keno, December 2011brbrKeno Auction would like to thank Steven S. Powers for his assistance in cataloging the Peter Brams Collection.brbrbrbLESS IS MOREbbrbrThe Peter Brams Collection of Important Woodlands Indian Art is the most extensive and comprehensive collection of its type in private or public hands. With an obsessive focus on Woodlands sculpture, which are primarily bowls and ladles, Mr. Brams has greatly aided in expanding the understanding of this important material by assembling such an immense collection. Mr. Brams, born in New Hampshire, but long a native of New York, has been collecting his whole life. brbr brbrFor the past 40 years, Brams has been through many collecting cycles, often the next overlapping with the previous; a true evolution. In the 1980s Brams collected contemporary fine art including Basquiat, Gilbert George, Carl Andre, then in the early 1990s Outsider Art, including James Castle, Sam Doyle, which led him to the American Folk Art of Bill Traylor, William Edmundson, Edgar McKillup, George Morgan, Moses Ogden, and numerous unknown artists and craftsmen. It was the best of American Folk Art that led him to Woodlands sculpture. In hindsight, it can be seen that in each step Brams was constantly editing and refining, seeking the essential elements that compose great sculpture: assured form, quality of execution, and surface, which is the Woodlands aesthetic at its core.brbrbrFor those who have been lucky enough to work with a collector as obsessive and curious as Brams, you will understand that to view a congregation of material like this together in one place was a privileged one. Though many Native American and Folk Art dealers are familiar with Woodlands burl bowls and effigy ladles, their experience in handing them are almost always isolated instances. Only a handful of people had the opportunity to view the Brams Collection en masse in his apartment. Though the experience of seeing such quality and depth within a few hundred square feet was aesthetically intoxicating, it was also mentally overwhelming. It was the best opportunity for a crash or extended course in Woodlands sculpture. To be able to see firsthand how representational forms transformed into reductive or abstracted versions of the same on ladles and bowls was a unique experience.brbrbrWoodlands art separates itself from other North American indigenous works by imposing the less is more philosophy. In contrast, the art of the Northwest Coast is powerful, often loaded with color, calling for attention. Woodlands art is understated and intimate, inviting the viewer in to see and to touch.brbrbrbrWOODLANDS BOWLSbrbrThey have dainty wooden bowles of maple, of highe price amongst them; and these are dispersed by bartering one with the other, Thomas Morton, circa 1625. Wooden carved effigy bowls are important and profound carvings of the Woodlands culture. Their marriage of utilitarian form with ceremony is arguably unsurpassed by any culture. The carvings are intimate and understated, yet powerful and bold without any contrivance. The carved effigies exude tremendous confidence and potential energy.brbrbrBefore any formal aspects of these objects may be effectively discussed, a single underlying concept must be recognized...wood is sacred, Gaylord Torrence writes in Art of the Red Earth People: The Mesquakie of Iowa, 1989. Robert Hobbs continues from the same, They regard trees, for example, as their grandparents. And bowls are formed of burls, which appear on tree trunks in enlarged growths that resemble the swelling caused by a human fetus. Since a tree's swelling burl is a metaphor for fecundity, these bowls serve also as an image of hope in the sacred feasts where they are used. Though Torrence and Hobbs refer specifically to the Mesquakie of the Sauk and Fox, these thoughts can suitably be applied to the beliefs of all Woodlands people.brbrbrEffigy bowls were not common utilitarian receptacles for food but reserved for ceremonial feasts or medical rituals. They were created with such thought and purpose that today we can understand just a fraction of their original import. The Woodlands people were master bowl makers. Not only were their effigy bowls superb examples of indigenous art, but their vessels for everyday food preparation, serving and individual use, were often remarkable works masterfully conceived and thoughtfully executed in hardwood burls of ash, elm and maple. Their understanding of form following function led them to ingenious and refined design; think of the classic Iroquoian double handled bowl. They appreciated surface and the complexity that use and age lent to these vessels and these objects were passed down from generation to generation; wood was sacred. brbrbrbWOODLANDS LADLESbbrbrThe end of the ladles handle is often surmounted with the figure of an animal or bird....These figures were often carved with surpassing skill, the proportions, and attitude of the animal being accurately preserved and studied, Lewis Henry Morgan, 1851.brbrbrEffigy ladles of the Woodlands Indians are remarkably refined utilitarian objects carved with platforms that display dynamic small-scale sculpture. A ladle is the personal eating implement for an individual. Larger examples were for the tribe to be used during feasts and ceremonies. Since, one was expected to bring his or her own spoon and dish to each meal, a small eating bowl and ladle or effigy ladle was part of every Woodlands person. The effigy carved upon one's ladle was personally meaningful and representative of its owner. Effigies were often totemistic of one's clan, illustrating the bear, wolf, turtle, etc. Effigies, either abstracted or fantastical, were often carved in response to one's dreams or illness. One would consult and discuss their dreams or visions with a medicine man and a design and type of wood would be decided upon.brbrbrOverwhelmingly, the perching bird is the most common figure found on effigy ladles. Others animals include the beaver, otter, bear, wolf, panther, Manitou, as well as mythological creatures. Human effigy ladles are quite scarce and tend to be early. Principle to the Woodlands aesthetic, the carvings look to capture the essence of the subject, reducing the carvings to a particular detail (e.g. an eye) or to