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Lot 138

Apache Figural Basketry Olla
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Estimate
$8,000 - 10,000
Price Realized
$6,250
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description
Apache Figural Basketry Olla
fourth quarter 19th century

with 13 human figures and bands of vertical rain

height 18-1/4 inches x diameter 17-1/2 inches

This impressive basket depicts a river with people, trees, and animals along its course. Standing 19 inches tall, it is one of the ollas "captured" by Colonel John Bullis about 1880. Bullis wrote home to his family that he and the doughty Seminole scouts had "swept into the village and captured 6 big Apache ollas filled with grain." Some anthropologists claim that Apache storage jars were made only for sale because they apparently are never seen in old photographs of Apache wickiups. Colonel Bullis' testimony and collection should disprove such a theory. (Hanson 1994: 201)

Published:
Spirits of the Art (Hanson 1994: 201, plate 201) 

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