Bonhams has announced that its third annual Art and Artifacts of the Americas sale will be held on September 10 in San Francisco, and will feature items from the Robert "Trader Bob" Bayuk Collection and the Nancy Sue and Judson C Ball Collection of Native American Art.
 A similar basket sold for $35,000 at Bonhams in June |
Bonhams featured the Robert "Trader Bob" Bayuk Collection - which focuses on Native American basketry from California - at another of its sales back in June, where a finely woven Tubatulabul/Kawaiisu bottle neck polychrome basket sold as top lot for $35,000. A similar Tubatulabul bottleneck basket will highlight September's sale, though it will be more modestly priced at just $1,500-2,500.
The collection will also feature a range of south-west jewellery, Pueblo pottery and a variety of materials from the plains and north-west coast. Estimates will range from $500-2,500.
The Nancy Sue and Judson C Ball Collection will consist of more than 40 lots of kachina dolls - a simply carved child's toy that also represents the circle of life. The collection started in the 1950s when Judson Ball began his collection as a child, and the couple have been avidly collecting since the 1970s. Again providing a superb opportunity for collectors on a budget, all items will be offered between $500 and $2,500.
The auction's top lot is expected to come from from a Jalisco seated couple carving from western Mexico, which was created in the Protoclassic period circa 100 BC-AD 200. Starring among 50 lots of pre-Columbian art from several private collections, it will sell for $3,000-5,000.
The auction can expect strong results after the recent successes of Native American artefacts at auction. In July, the war shirt which belonged to the Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph sold for $877,500 - an 81.8% increase in value from its last sale on May 16. Similarly, a Navajo blanket set a new world record for the most valuable Navajo textile ever sold at auction, after eclipsing the previous record by 244.8%.
Paul Fraser Collectibles is currently offering an authentic hair from the head of Geronimo, the famed Apache leader and medicine man.
