OK @chicfarmer, you made a mistake saying you’re a frog person🤭. I also love frog fetishes, and have collected quite a few. So, here are acouple of my favorites I collected early on.
The green alabaster frog is by Edna Leki (1924 - 2003) from a fameous carving family and supposedly the first female allowed to be allowed to carve at Zuni. The cream colored larger alabaster frog is by Debra Gasper, daughter of well known carvers Dinah &Pete Gasper and granddaughter of Edna Leki. So these 2 frogs are related😆.
Debra is married to another very important carver, Ray Tsethlikai.
And just to show the difference in size, I’ve added two smaller frogs, more recently (early 2000s) carved frogs. The turquoise frog is by Debra, the red alabaster frog is by Debra and Ray.
Our one and only fetish is a little bear that I know nothing about, but it has a fond story. In 1989, I took my girlfriend to Estes Park, CO for the first time. While there, we were shopping in a Native American jewelry store. The owner, who was Navajo and extremely friendly, was showing us around. We spent a lot of time in the store just visiting, because no other customers came in. We didn’t buy anything, but right before we left he reached into the fetish display, pulled out this little bear, gave it to us at no charge, and said it would protect and guard us on our trip.
Well, that girlfriend is my wife and that little bear is still protecting us all of these years.
Your bear fetish is beautiful @TAH. The story behind it and the photograph representing it complete this exceptionally classy post. Thank you for sharing.
Below are my meager contributions to this fantastic thread. I am not nearly as well versed on fetishes as many of you, but I certainly appreciate their history, craft, and beauty.
The large bear and bison were purchased from the bison preserve I recently mentioned in @TAH’s “Belt Buckles and Concho Belts” thread, the two ravens and bald eagle came from the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, IN, and while I know he is not a fetish in the traditional sense, the smaller bear was carved from a moose skull, by an Alaskan native. His home is adjacent to the other fetishes so I thought it prudent to include him.
I was thinking the same as @Ziacat…really nicely composed photo…buffalo hide? The thing I find interesting about fetishes, other than their history use, is the wonderful variety of both carving styles and carving materials used, even Amber, shell and nuts.
@Bmpdvm, you are correct! That hide has been put to use as an insulator from the ground on more than a few nights spent under the stars, my young nephews found it plenty warm, as have I! I’ve yet to find a comparable synthetic material that comes close, although, it’s not the lightest sleeping pad. Thanks to both you and @TAH for the comments on the photograph, the sun was setting and I was attempting to shoot something pleasurable, I’m glad to hear it was well received!
I agree with the varied materials put to use being intriguing. I was unaware of nuts, but have seen amber, some with insect inclusions which I found wonderful. I also enjoy seeing the contrast of the eyes to the rest of the carving, turquoise and coral eyes certainly pop against the darker material used in some fetishes.
We don’t have a Buffalo hide, but wonder if an elk hide would be equally as insulating…probably! My husband used some of the elk hair for tying flys, but I’ll tell him about using hides when sleeping out. But you are right, too heavy for backpacking, even adds a lot to weight when horse packing!
Several Zuni carvers have used Tonga nuts for small fetishes. Logically they would be easy to carve. This one is by Zuni artist Gale Lucio who is known for bison carvings (not mine):
to wear-reindeer…long hollow hair,light weight hide. warms you up in less than a minute
as bedding,bison is # 1,merino sheepskin is second place due to size.
for the “wow” factor…angora goat!
& I confused a couple of dogs at the farmers market by wearing my new arctic fox pelt…lol
Thank you for sharing @Bmpdvm. I’ve yet to study fetishes to the extent as some of the members here, but I do enjoy them. Gale Lucio’s work is beautiful, and, for fetishes, quite realistic! Especially the one you shared a photo of.
@Bmpdvm love these Gasper and Leki froggies. Here’s a favorite of mine, by Debra’s parents Pete and Dinah Gasper, in orange alabaster, with a nice bundle. As you know I’m sure, Dinah’s grandfather was Teddy Weahkee. This frog absolutely glows at times of day when the light hits him. This fella lives with two companions. One is by an unidentified relative of Lena Boone’s, possibly Rignie, in jet with turquoise inlay. The other, incredibly tiny, is by Ray Tsalate, in fossilized ivory* (* that’s what my inventory says, but now I’m wondering if it’s actually antler) with inlays (pic has him on a quarter).
Yep that orange alabaster frog is wonderful, both in color and form! Easy to tell it’s likely the Gasper family! I just love the bulging eyes on these Leki/Gasper/Boone frogs…great to see one of Dinah and Pete’s!
The Boone family little guy is also nice, but the workmanship in Ray Tsalate’s little frog is exceptional! The way the turquoise eyes merge with the ivory is so well done. Do you think it’s antler? From what I can see I’m leaning more toward fossil ivory; it has that creamy white with a bit of tan mottling. I have several antler frogs by Troy and Gabe Sice, and to my eye it just looks different. Regardless, I love it!
@Bmpdvm Thank you! Gasper frogs are so great. The Pete and Dinah fetish has so much character. I call him Pete.
Thanks for the input about ivory for the Ray T frog. Agree. It has a whiter cast and more sheen than antler. I just second guessed myself after reading that Ray and Troy use antler a lot.
The black jet frog seems funkier than the normal Boone pieces you see. Pretty sure that Arch Thiessen thought it was Rignie’s. In the process of posting I reminded myself that Lena Boone was Dinah’s sister.
I hope to share my Ricky Laahty frogs soon, and maybe a couple other special ones.
You have an outstanding collection of carved fetishes.