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Cowan’s to sell Eastern Woodlands artifact collection July 28

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Cowan's
Banded slate bannerstone, Middle to Late Archaic, 6000-1000 B.C., Spencer County, Indiana, 4½in
long. Estimate: $20,000-$30,000. Cowan’s Auctions image.

CINCINNATI – Cowan’s Auctions will present “Ancient Art of the Eastern Woodlands – The Art Gerber Collection” on Saturday, July 28, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.

This is the first of several auctions offering the renowned artifact collection of Art Gerber of Santa Claus, Indiana (1938-2017).

A highlight of the Gerber collection is a banded slate reel bannerstone (above) that is remarkable for its graceful form, striking bands and beautiful light-colored slate. It was found in 1968 by a hunter across the Ohio River from Owensboro, Kentucky. Few of these highly developed reels have ever sold publicly.

Cowan's
Limestone concave humped bannerstone and flared bone, Middle-Late Archaic Period, 6000-1000 B.C., Spencer County, Indiana. These artifacts were found together by Art Gerber at the Crib Mound. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000. Cowan’s Auctions image

Lot 23 consists of 19 pieces described as a Hopewell cache, 200 B.C.-A.D. 400. The prize item in the lot is a thin 11-inch Hopewell Ross blade (below) made from Mill Creek chert. Also included are a platform pipe, two copper celts, an expanded center gorget and nine Snyders points.

Cowan's
Hopewell Ross blade made from Mill Creek Chert, 11in long, one of the 19 artifacts from the cache of Hopewell Culture items found near the Ohio River across from the city of Owensboro, Kentucky. Estimate: $50,0900-$80,000. Cowan’s Auctions image

This collection highlights objects from the Ohio Valley, including the important cache from Crib Mound in Spencer County, Indiana.

Cowan's
Expanded center bottle bannerstone and an associated antler atlatl hook, Middle-Late Archaic Period, 6000-1000 B.C., Barrow Site, Ohio County, Kentucky. Estimate: $5,000-$8,000. Cowan’s Auctions image

For details contact Danica Farnand at danica@cowans.com or 513-871-1670 ext. 215.

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