Totem Pole, "Shark Mother" Northwest Coast Carved Wood by Duane Pasco

A carved wooden mask originating in the Pacific Northwest Coast. The design on the face is a Native American Killer Whale or Orca motif in black and red. The title, date and the arti...

Carved and painted wooden chilkat sign made in the mid. 20th century by E. Marcus Westby (1924-2010). Presented ready to hang, dimensions measure 31 ¾ x 66 ¼ x ¾ inches. Piece is ...

An original watercolor painting by San Ildefonso (Pueblo) Native American artist, Jose Roybal (1922-1978) depicting the Pueblo Harvest Dance. Presented in ...

Original painting by Randy Lee White Native American Indian ledger style in acrylic on canvas with assemblage including feather and wood. Wrapped canva...

Antique circa 1875-1900 historic pueblo pottery bowl, Southwestern Native American Indian dough bowl built by hand and painted with red/orange,...

Antique Sioux (Native American/Plains Indian) Parfleche in a box form constructed of rawhide and intricately painted in an abstract design with hourglass and geometric motifs with natural pigments and red trade cloth. At the time this was created, the Sioux Indians were nomadic and are associated with vast areas of the Great Plains of the United States including present-day North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Montana. Authenticity is guaranteed. Box is in very good condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Parfleches are rawhide containers which were fundamental to the Plains way of life. Functioning essentially as protective travelling suitcases, they enabled the nomadic tribes to effectively pursue buffalo herds and migrate between seasonal camps. So critical were they to a nomadic existence that over 40 tribes are known to have historically produced parfleches. Collectively, these tribes inhabited an area which encompassed the entirety of the Plains, as well as the parts of the Southwest, the Transmontane and Western Plateau regions. Parfleches were, out of necessity, robust and versatile objects. They were designed to carry and protect within them anything from medicinal bundles to seasonal clothing or food. In fact, it was because of the containers’ robusticity and variety that parfleches earned their name in the Anglo world. Derived from parer (to parry or turn aside) and fleche (arrow), the word parfleche was coined by 17th century French Canadian voyageurs and used to describe indigenous objects made from rawhide. Despite their common utilitarian function, parfleches served as one of the major mediums through which Plains Indian tribes could develop their long-standing tradition of painting. In fact, it is in large part due to the parfleche that tribal style emerged. Even though parfleche painting developed simultaneously with beading and weaving, painting as an artistic tradition held particular importance in tribal culture. Believed to have evolved from tattooing, it had always been used as a conduit through which tribal and individual identity could be expressed. As such, many tribeswomen were deeply committed, some even religiously, to decorating their parfleche either with incised or painted motifs that were significant to them and/or the tribe. For some tribes, such as the Cheyenne, the decorative processes which surrounded parfleche production were sacred. For others, it seems that their parfleche designs shared an interesting artistic dialogue with their beadwork, indicating a more casual exchange of design motifs. This particular relationship can be seen in Crow parfleche...

Northwest coast cedar TOTEM. Signed in pencil on back, "Susan Peters." We assume a former owner. Base is contemporary, almost matching totems. Carved o...

This Indigenous American totem pole was done by the renowned master carver John T. Williams of the United States in approximately 1960 in his signa...

A fine example attributed to master Nuu-chah-nulth carver Ray Williams, circa 1960s. Ray Williams was the son of famed carver Sam Williams who started car...

A fine example of a Nuu-chah-nulth northwest coast hand carved wood TOTEM pole by master carver Ray Williams, circa 1960s. Williams was the son of famed c...

A fine example of a Nuu-chah-nulth northwest coast hand carved wood TOTEM pole by master carver John Williams, circa 1980s. Williams was the son of famed carver, Ray Williams, and Gr...

This folk art carved and polychrome painted totem pole is signed by an unknown artist and originated from the United States and dates to 1985 and d...