Marlowe Katoney's latest pictorial weaving was among those sold last Saturday.

Our busy 2011 auction schedule has drawn to a close with last Saturday’s Maxwell Museum Auction in Bernalillo, New Mexico.  We continue to be amazed by the innovations of the weavers who bring their work to us.  Marlowe Katoney’s pictorial, seen above, is just one example.   Other weavers attending Saturday’s auction were Bessie Littleben and Zonnie Gilmore. We’re working on our 2012 schedule and we’ll have it posted as soon as possible.  In the meantime, we’ll post some pictures of some memorable moments from this year and we’ll thank all of the weavers and buyers who made this year so great.

Perhaps our youngest attendee at Saturday’s auction was Sunshine Burnham,  daughter of Austin and Ashley Burnham, seen below with her grandmother Virginia and in her new cradleboard, carefully held by Hank Blair.

Sunshine Burnham with Hank Blair

Sunshine Burnham with her grandmother, Virginia

Here’s a quick virtual preview of some of the rugs that we have taken in for tomorrow’s Flagstaff Cultural Partners Auction.  The auction will be held at the beautiful Coconino Center for the Arts, 2300 N. Fort Valley Rd. in Flagstaff.  The preview starts at 9 AM and the auction is at 2 PM.  Here’s a link to the auction page.

We are in Phoenix, Arizona getting ready for tonight’s Pueblo Grande Museum Native American Arts Auction.  Tonight’s offerings will include pottery, baskets, jewelry and other unique items. The preview starts at 5 PM at the museum, 4619 E. Washington St., and the auction will begin at 7 PM.  Click here for more information and a map to the location. We hope to see you this evening!

Marlowe Katoney with his remarkable pictorial of Delicate Arch

We’re back at the trading post after a very successful inaugural auction for the Canyonlands Natural History Association in Moab, Utah.  We are already in the planning stages for next year’s event in beautiful Moab.  We’ll have it on the calendar as soon as plans are finalized.  Marlowe Katoney of Winslow, AZ continues to amaze us with his fresh approach to pictorial weaving.   His pictorial of the Delicate Arch, commissioned by the Association was a crowd favorite and a  top competitive bid attraction during the auction.  Marlowe is working on more pieces for our upcoming auctions in Ganado, Cortez, Phoenix, Flagstaff and Albuquerque. You can see a picture of this fantastic weaving above.  Hover your mouse over the picture for a closer view.

Another notable and unique weaving in the auction was a Design Sampler weaving by Minnie Yazzie of Sweetwater, AZ.  Winnie is shown below holding the rug as it sold.

In other auction updates, we have just been informed that the Blair’s Trading Post Benefit Rug Auction has been cancelled.   This was a sudden development and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Minnie Yazzie of Sweetwater, AZ shows her Design Sampler at Moab

Weaver Marlowe Katoney at the Smoki Museum auction in Prescott this July. Marlowe will be demonstrating weaving at the Canyonlands auction and we hope to see several new pieces from him. Please hover your mouse over the picture for a closer view.

We are on the road to Moab, Utah for the inaugural Canyonlands Natural History Navajo Rug Auction.  The auction is tomorrow, September 10, 2011 with a preview from 10 AM to noon and Bruce will say “Alright now watryagonnagimeforit?” starting at 1 PM Mountain Daylight Time.  We’ll post some previews and pictures of the auction in progress tomorrow.  We are very happy to add this venue to our schedule and hope to be back next year.  See you there!

Bruce in the R.B. Burnham and Co. booth at the Native Treasures Show. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood.

Our 2011 Native Treasures Show started today at the El Dorado Hotel Pavilion in Santa Fe, NM.  There is a wonderful group of vendors here, and we’re looking forward to seeing all of our friends coming to Indian Market over the next three days.  The show is open from 8 AM to 6 PM.  We’ve brought our best things to the show and we would love to share them with you.

The R.B. Burnham and Co. booth.

A few glimpses of last Saturday's auction at the Smoki Museum in Prescott, Arizona. Counter clockwise rom top left, weaver Emily Malone, a 1920's Ye'i, a Teec Nos Pos weaving, a cowboy pictorial, nine year old weaver Alyssa Malone, her sister LaVera Blake, mother Emily, a vintage Eyedazzler and in the center, new weaver Marlowe Katoney. Click on the picture for a closer view.

The summer Smoki Museum auctions were held last Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Friday’s auction featured Native American art and Western memorabilia, while Saturday’s auction showcased Navajo weaving. We’ve done a collage of a few of the pictures from the rug auction, which is always a fascinating combination of vintage and contemporary work and is attended by several weavers.

Our next outing will be during Indian Market at the Native Treasures Show in Santa Fe, NM, August 19th – 21st.  See you there!

Vicky Blair (left) and Virginia Burnham flash their bidder numbers at Saturday's Friends of Hubbell Auction.

Last Saturday’s Friends of Hubbell Native American Arts Auction was nothing short of a standing room only, no holds barred success as 450 lots of exquisite original art were presented to the audience.  There was a very low percentage of no-sale items and Friends of Hubbell reported an estimated sales total of just under $200,000,  not quite a record but tantalizingly close.  We have selected the pictures for an album presentation for you and will have them posted later this week when the captioning is completed, but we had to post this great picture of Vicky Blair and Virginia Burnham right away!

We’ll be trying to help the Friends of Hubbell break that record again on September 17, 2011.  If you’d like to stop by and help us, click here for more details on the auction.

Once again, ahé’hee (thank you from the bottom of our hearts).

Weaver Ella Mae Nez with her latest weaving inspired by her serivce in the Middle East.

In 2009, Ella Mae Nez amazed us with an enchanting Burntwater rug based on Persian carpet patterns that she had photographed during her tour of duty in Iraq.  The rug won Best in Class at the 2009 Inter-tribal Ceremonial.  Today, she came in with a sister to it that is every bit as amazing, but is larger by about one third.   It is woven with Burnham’s Wilde and Wooley Trading Post yarn in size 1 and is 76 inches wide (7 feet, 4 inches) and 102 inches long (8 feet, 6 inches).   It is an intricate double diamond pattern beautifully bordered with medallions in pink, blues, violets and literally dozens of coordinating colors that merge in Ella’s vision to create a unique blend of Navajo weaving heritage with the textile traditions of the Middle East.  It is a testament to the ability of the Navajo people to recognize, treasure and create beauty no matter where they find themselves in the world

You can see the rug on the floor of our gallery below with Ella Mae and her son seated on the gallery couch to provide some scale.  It is completely floor worthy with an appropriate pad.  Please contact us if you would like additional pictures and we’ll get them right out to you.   The rug is priced at $17,500 and is available for purchase through our online store.