Lakota Sioux War Shirt Once Owned by George Gustave Heye and the Fossetts

Lakota Sioux War Shirt Once Owned by George Gustave Heye and the Fossetts

Important Lakota Sioux War Shirt from the Steve and Peggy Fossett Collection Leads November Arts of the American West Auction at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ bi-annual Arts of the American West auction will be conducted on November 9 and 10 at the firm’s Denver saleroom. The sale will feature over 700 lots of historic and contemporary Western paintings, bronzes, furniture and decorative objects, Native American arts and artifacts, Pueblo pottery, Navajo textiles and Southwestern jewelry. The sale will include property from the estates of Anthony M. Greene and Steve and Peggy Fossett.

Featured in the auction is a collection of important Native American beadwork from the Beaver Creek, Colorado home of the late Steve and Peggy Fossett. Steve Fossett was a record-setting adventurer and explorer, who is known for his speed and distance as an aviator, sailor and cross-country skier.  Mr. Fossett, a part-time Beaver Creek resident, set an Aspen to Vail cross-country skiing record in 1998. Fossett was the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the Earth in a hot air balloon and flew the Virgin GlobalFlyer for the longest uninterrupted and unrefueled aircraft flight in history, covering 25,766 miles. He participated in races across many disciplines, including the Iditarod, Ironman and Paris to Dakar Rally. He also swam the English Channel and climbed some of the highest mountains on Earth. Fossett was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Explorers Club.

Examples from the Fossett collection include a late 19th century Lakota Sioux Buckskin War Shirt. The shirt was once owned by George Gustave Heye, whose collection was the foundation for what became the Museum of the American Indian (MAI) in New York City. In 1989, the MAI collection was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution for the creation of the National Museum of the American Indian. The Lakota Sioux war shirt carries a presale estimate of $40,000 – 60,000.

Other highlights from the Fossett collection include a late 19th century Tlingit Chilkat dance blanket and a rare Shoshone painted hide robe, attributed to Cadzi Cody, with respective presale estimates of $8,000 – 12,000 and $20,000 – 40,000. Both were formerly from The Andy Warhol Collection sold in 1988. Also of note is a Navajo Second Phase Variant chief’s blanket with a presale estimate of $40,000 – 60,000 and a Navajo child’s wearing blanket estimated at $20,000 – 25,000, each circa 1865-1870.

“The collection of Steve and Peggy Fossett is undeniably reflective of their interest in travel and culture. They built a worldly collection that also matched the landscapes of their homes in Chicago, Carmel and Beaver Creek,” said Maron Hindman, VP West and Southwest at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. “It’s always thrilling to work with a collection that contains items with such fascinating histories.”

Another highlight of the sale is The Rattlesnake, #69 by Frederick Remington, depicting a cowboy and his spooked horse. It carries a presale estimate of $100,000 – 200,000. Remington explored the subject matter, a single mounted cowboy in motion, ten years earlier with his first sculpture, The Bronco Buster. Remington created a new, larger version of The Rattlesnake around 1908, which has become, after The Bronco Buster, his most popular sculpture.

“In 1918, when this specific bronze was cast, Roman Bronze Works, Remington’s favorite foundry, was incorporated for the first time,” said Michael E. Shapiro, Senior Advisor, Museums and Private Collections at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. “The foundry marking on this specific cast echoes that important and particular moment in time.” The November auction will also feature property from the estate of Anthony M. Greene of Atlanta, Georgia and Jackson, Wyoming. Anthony Greene served on the boards of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. He had homes and collections of Wildlife and Western art in both cities.

Among the wildlife and Western paintings from the Greene collection are two works by Ken Carlson, Autumn Rivalry and Grizzly Crossing a River, each estimated at $20,000 – 40,000, Buckin’ for Bucks, c. 1954, oil on canvas, by Olaf Wieghorst estimated at $30,000 – 50,000, and Clyde Aspevig’s Along the Rim estimated at $20,000 – 30,000.

Other paintings included in the sale are Herald of Trouble by E. William Gollings, which holds an estimate of $70,000 – 90,000, Harmonious Sounds by William Acheff ($15,000 – 25,000) and Night Visitors, Taos by Oscar Berninghaus ($12,000 – 18,000).

The sale will be conducted live in the Denver saleroom at 1024 Cherokee Street, Suite 200. The exhibition will be open to the public November 3 – 9. The catalogue is currently available online at lesliehindman.com. For additional information, please contact Rachel Enright at rachelenright@lesliehindman.com or (303) 825-1855.