Accumulations – One Grouping Reviewed

We used to think of ourselves as collectors but, in retrospect, we should call ourselves accumulators!  Why?  The answer is fairly simple.  Collectors generally acquire objects that fall into set categories, they tend to focus on 2 – 3 categories at the most and they continually ‘grow’ their collection.

In our case, we’ve picked up something here and there…widely varying items which happened to catch our attention…but with no particular collector’s goal in mind.  However, looking at our ‘accumulations’, I’ve noted that in a couple of instances we have gathered a number of related items…  When does an accumulation of themed items become a collection?

So…as I was looking around the house, I noted that we had an accumulation of Native American items that we’d picked up over the last 40+ years as well as some related artistic creations from my family that we were given… While none of them are valuable per se, we do have a decent grouping on hand.

The first clay jar from the southwestern USA as shown above was purchased in a local Elgin Illinois auction about 28 years ago.  There wasn’t much competition for it but we’ve always liked it.  It measures about 10.5 inches across and 8.5 inches tall.  The artist is unknown but it is an Acoma polychrome painted pot…

We purchased the second pot for $45 while on our 2006 vacation in the southwestern USA.  It was made by Norma Jean Ortiz from the Pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico.  It measures 6 inches across and its 4.5 inches tall. 

Norma Jean Ortiz has lived at Acoma Pueblo for most of her life.  She supports her family by creating pottery.  All of her designs are in her head, not written down, and each piece is unique.  To view more of her creations, some of which are quite pricy, you can just go to: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=norma+jean+ortiz&qpvt=norma+jean+ortiz&form=IGRE&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover.

Laurie and I can’t remember where we bought or how we acquired the first basket shown above.  It is a tightly woven but thin sided Native American basket.  The second basket was purchased in TLC Summer Place, an antique shop located in Harbor Springs Michigan.  It is a well preserved Papago basket that came from a collection that someone put together in the 1940s.  As per the note that came with the basket, a ‘hammered construction’ technique was used to make the basket.  This little 6 inch across by 3 inch high creation is really tight and has very little ‘give’ to it.

I thought that I’d covered the Native American baskets found around our home…but I’d forgotten more recent acquisitions.  Laurie has a lot of baskets!  The larger basket was purchased in Etowah TN a few years ago.  It was made by Lucille Lossiah, a highly respected basket maker from of the Eastern Band of the Cherokees.  To learn more, you can go to https://www.blueridgeheritage.com/artist/lucille-Lossiah/#:~:text=Lucille%20Lossiah%20makes%20double%20and%20single%20weave%20baskets,Mary%20Jane%20Lossiah%2C%20and%20her%20grandmother%2C%20Betty%20Lossiah.

The second photo is of an egg basket made from white oak strips using walnut and bloodroot dyes.  The maker was another well-known artist named Annie James.  This basket was purchased many years ago at the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual in Cherokee North Carolina.  To learn more about Annie James and the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual (co-op), just go to https://quallaartsandcrafts.com/.

It was 44 years ago when I acquired these 2 ‘Eskimo’/Inuit soapstone carvings.  They were purchased in a store specializing in ‘Eskimo Art’ that was located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  The 10.5 inch tall primitive human figure was carved by Alikaswah who was from Eskimo Point on Hudson Bay in Manitoba Canada.

The second carving is 8 inches tall and 7.5 inches long.  It’s a primitive reindeer and it was created by an Inuit artist named Nashanetook from Spence Bay, which is now called Taloyoak.  This settlement, the northernmost town in Canada, is on the Boothia Peninsula in what used to be called Canada’s Northwest Territory.  The Northwest Territory is now called Nunavut.    

Then we’ve also gathered a few prints and lithographs that depict Native Americans.  This colored lithograph that we bought at auction 28 years ago, features Itcho-Tustennuggee, aka Halleck Tustenuggee, a famous Seminole War Chief. 

The original lithograph (this is a later lithographic copy) was included in “The History of the Indian Tribes of North America”, a 3-volume collection of biographies and lithograph portraits published in the USA from 1836 to 1844 by Thomas McKenney and James Hall.  The majority of the portraits were first painted in oil paints by Charles Bird King.  Only 295 of the original 300 painting survived the horrendous Smithsonian fire of 1865.  A set of the 3-volume books sold not too long ago for $156,000.  

This is a Flathead Indian warrior who was named H’co-a-ho’co-a-h’cotes-min.  The original hand-colored lithograph was completed by George Catlin and it was published in D. Prichard’s “Natural History of Man” which was published in 1842.  We picked up this subsequent lithographic copy in 1988 at a gallery in Winter Haven Florida.

FYI, George Catlin (1796 – 1872) was an American lawyer, painter and author who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the western USA.  He began his portrait quest in 1830 when he joined Governor William Clark on a diplomatic mission up the Mississippi River into Native American Territory.  Catlin’s base of operations between 1830 and 1836 was in St. Louis and he visited fifty different tribes during this period.

Again at auction, Laurie and I acquired another George Catlin related work of art in 1990.  It’s a watercolor based on Catlin’s “Three Indian Chiefs” or “North American Indians”…the latter is a more likely title.  It’s a decent early copy of Catlin’s original work.

In the latter portion of the 1830s, Catlin ascended the Missouri River for more than 1,900 miles, as far as the Fort Union Trading near the current North Dakota-Montana border.  The tribes in this area were still relatively untouched by European culture and he visited 18 tribes ranging from the Pawnee in the south to the Blackfeet in the north.  Later in his career he made trips along the Arkansas, Red and southern Mississippi Rivers as well as visits to the Great Lakes area and Florida.  All in all, he produced more than 500 paintings!  The almost complete surviving set of Catlin’s first Indian Gallery from the 1830s is now part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection. 

To view some of George Catlin’s portraits of Native Americans as well as his impressions of their lives, you can go to https://www.google.com/search?q=george+catlin+paintings&oq=George+Catlin&aqs=chrome.2.0i355i433i457j46i433j0l3j46j0l2.8311j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.  The collection is quite impressive…

My brother Robert (Bob) Thomson had significant artistic abilities.  Unfortunately, he was never able to cash in on his skills.  From time to time, he would send me odds and ends that he came across at flea markets, swap meets and the like.  In this case, for my birthday one year he sent me 4 pictures that I believe are prints.  We had them framed.

I hate trying to take photos of art works that are glassed in. (Note: my image above) Reflections are a real challenge when it comes to the quality of the photos.  The following is the best I could manage with my brother’s 4 Native American portraits…

This print is of Chief Louison, a tribal chief from the Flathead or Salish Indian Reservation in Montana.  I found one account that stated that Chief Louison had a big herd of cattle and horses that were estimated to be worth $15,000 or more at the time.  The print and any lithographs with this image were copied from a stereograph photo taken by N.A. Forsyth in 1898.

This is a portrait of Hattie Tom, a Mescalero Chiricahua Apache woman.  This 1898 image was taken from a gelatin silver print photo by Frank Albert Rinehart at the Omaha Indian Congress that ran from August until the end of October. 

Over 500 members from 38 different Native American tribes attended this gathering, including the Apache chief Geronimo who was actually a prisoner of war at the time.  Rinehart’s photos are regarded as one of the best photographic documentations of American Indian leaders around the start of the 20^th Century.

This image is from another photograph taken by Frank Rinehart in 1898.  This is Chief Wolf Robe, a council chief from the Southern Cheyenne Tribe.  He was reputed to be a fierce warrior in his youth but was known as a pacifist as he grew older.  He was actually awarded a Benjamin Harrison Peace Metal for his work with the Cherokee Commission.  Metals were frequently ‘awarded’ to prominent chiefs who assisted in ensuring peace between the American/European settlers, the US government and the various tribes.

Chief Hollow Horn Bear was photographed in 1913 by Adolph F. Muhr.  However, he was photographed and painted by many artists.  He was a Brule Lakota leader who took part in many battles including the Little Big Horn where General Custer was defeated.  Known as Matshehlogego to his people, he also was known for his defeat and total destruction of Captain William Fetterman and his troops in 1866. 

By the late 1870s he began favoring peace with the US government and he led several delegations to Washington D.C. for negotiations.  He became quite a celebrity in the east.  In 1905 he took part in the presidential inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt.  Then in 1913, he led a group of Native Americans in the inauguration parade for President Woodrow Wilson.  While in Washington for Wilson’s inauguration, Chief Hollow Horn Bear caught pneumonia and died.

FYI, Chief Hollow Horn Bear was featured on this 14-cent stamp.  It was issued on May 1, 1923 in Muskogee Oklahoma and Washington D.C. and it was the first 14-cent stamp issued by the United States Postal Service.  The portrait used for this stamp was taken by staff Smithsonian photographer De Lancey Gill in 1905.

I thought that I’d end our accumulation of Native American items, art and artifacts with these 3 large pencil drawings.  They are very accomplished and detailed freehand drawings that were completed by my brother Robert.  I’m sure that he copied them from images created by other artists and, with time I’m guessing that I might be able to find photos of the originals on the Internet.  Our son David II has the first 2 of these drawings hanging on the walls of his home.

That’s it for now… Just click on any of the images to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave