Edward Curtis Orotone. CURTIS, EDWARD S. 1868-1952. Cañon de Chelly, c.1904. Orotone, signed in the image, framed in original Curtis Studios batwing frame (unexamined out of frame) 11 1/4 x 14 in. (28.6 x 35.5 cm) Overall 16 x 18 3/4 in. (40 x 47.8 cm) Provenance: Curtis Studio, Seattle, Washington label and remnant of description label on back of frame; from the collection of Dr. Billy T. Utley. The image appears in Volume I of The North American Indian. According to Timothy Egan, just as Curtis 'had seen the hunched figure of old Princess Angeline as an emblematic native of the land, Curtis saw the Navajo in sync with Canyon de Chelly. On horseback, they were dwarfed by cliffs rising a thousand feet above them and by a limitless empty sky. Being there, he understood why no one had bothered the Navajo for so long. The canyon was impossible to see from afar; it revealed itself only when you were actually upon it' (Short Nights of the Shadow Watcher, p.93). Literature: Edward S. Curtis, The North American Indian: The Complete Portfolios, Taschen, 1997, Vol. I, p. 58 Cardozo, Edward Curtis: One Hundred Masterworks, Delmonico Books/ Prestel, 2015, p. 53 and back cover Lot to be sold without reserve. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤ ¤ Unless indicated by the ¤ symbol next to the lot number (or bearing an explicit statement such as 'No Reserve' or 'Without Reserve'), which denotes no reserve, all lots in the catalog are subject to a reserve. The reserve is the minimum hammer price that the seller is willing to accept for a lot. This amount is confidential and does not exceed the low estimate value. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing