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Tsimshian carved soul catcher, early 19th century, $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy Cowan's

Cowan’s to offer Native American art April 16

Wyatt Barrett
Wyatt Barrett
Tsimshian carved soul catcher, early 19th century, $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy Cowan's
Tsimshian carved soul catcher, early 19th century, $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy Cowan’s

CINCINNATI – Cowan’s will present its Native American Art auction on April 16 beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern. Absentee and live online bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.

The sale will offer a wide selection of native art and artifacts spanning prehistory through the 19th century. Selected highlights include a porphyry popeye birdstone, an extraordinary Cheyenne River tobacco bag, an early Sioux buffalo hide blanket strip, a Blackfeet dress, a classic Zuni manta from an estate in Sinking Spring, Ohio, and a Tsimshian carved soul catcher.

Collections in the auction include the final installment of Dick Jemison’s Colorful Collection of Pueblo Rattles, the U.S. Children’s Center of Historical Education and Advocacy, and selections from Steven Curtis’ private collection.

Standout works in the sale include a Cheyenne River tobacco bag attributed to Edith Claymore (lot 109; estimate: $40,000-60,000) made of sinew-sewn, softly tanned deer hide and decorated with fine beadwork in colors of red white-heart, light and dark blue, pea green, greasy yellow, and white. The bag features imagery of a buck on one side and a grazing doe on the opposite, and the main beaded panel depicts warriors on horseback. This bag is very likely by the same artist as one held in the collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND 11727).

Attributed to Edith Claymore (Miniconjou, 1858-1910), tobacco bag, late 19th century, $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy Cowan's
Attributed to Edith Claymore (Miniconjou, 1858-1910), tobacco bag, late 19th century, $40,000-$60,000. Image courtesy Cowan’s

A Tsimshian carved soul catcher (lot 268; estimate: $40,000-60,000) is another excellent work that is carved of bone and features open-mouthed wolves separated by a central human figure. Soul catchers were worn by Shamans, who used them to recover souls that had left a patient’s body and were thus causing illness.

An early Sioux beaded buffalo hide blanket strip made of sinew-sewn softly-tanned buffalo hide is expected to highlight the beadwork category. It features a range of colorful beads and is designed with four medallions with twisted hide thongs in the centers, and further decorated with rows of crosses. This lot is expected to bring $30,000-40,000.

Early Sioux beaded buffalo Hide blanket strip, mid-late 19th century, $30,000-$40,000. Image courtesy Cowan's
Early Sioux beaded buffalo Hide blanket strip, mid-late 19th century, $30,000-$40,000. Image courtesy Cowan’s

Another standout in the category is a Blackfeet beaded hide dress ($25,000-35,000), collected by U.S. Special Agent Johnson N. High, which features yoke beaded using colors of white, black, and pony trade blue. After serving in the Civil War, High was appointed as a U.S. Special Agent for the Bannock and Shoshone Indians on the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho Territory in 1870. Around the same time, he adopted a Paiute child named Lena Rivers High. Lena died of pneumonia at Blackfoot, Idaho in 1885. Eventually High retired from service and moved back east.

Blackfeet beaded hide dress, mid-late 19th century, $25,000-$35,000. Image courtesy Cowan's
Blackfeet beaded hide dress, mid-late 19th century, $25,000-$35,000. Image courtesy Cowan’s

Other highlights include an Eastern Woodlands pipe tomahawk with a decorated blade (lot 19; estimate: $25,000-35,000) and an Otoe ball club carved of ash or chestnut (lot 21; estimate: $25,000-35,000). A classic Zuni period embroidered manta, from an Estate in Sinking Spring, Ohio, is another noteworthy lot (lot 179; estimate: $20,000-30,000). Other notable objects include a Tlingit carved effigy rattle (lot 270; estimate: $25,000-35,000); a Cheyenne child’s beaded buffalo hide cradle (lot 75; estimate: $15,000-25,000); and a Zuni polychrome pottery frog jar (lot 162; estimate: $10,000-15,000).

Tlingit carved effigy rattle, late 19th century, $25,000-$35,000. Image courtesy Cowan's
Tlingit carved effigy rattle, late 19th century, $25,000-$35,000. Image courtesy Cowan’s

Bidding for April 16 auction will begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern at LiveAuctioneers.


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