Antler Avanyu Fetish by master Teddy Weahkee

Mid 20th century

11"

Teddy Weahkee (1890-1965)was a respected Zuni elder artist, carver, jeweler, and make of traditional arts. He attended Phoenix Indian School, fought in World War I, married Cheyenne beadworker Anna Lefthand, and served as Governor of Zuni Pueblo. He learned about Zuni fetishes as a spiritual elder and working with Leekya on the excavation of Haiwaku village. He and his daughter, Edna Leki, made Zuni fetish pots covered in tiny turquoise chips and nuggets.

Collected by Proctor Stafford, a Los Angeles collector of the ancient art of Mexico since the late 1940s through the '50s. He was the first American collecting Pre-Columbian art down in Mexico. He collected in conjunction with the artists Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Wolfgang Paalen and William Spratling, among other luminaries of the day. He passed away in 1997. The Proctor Stafford Collection at LACMA is arguably the world's best collection of ancient West Mexican art. He also collected Northwest Coast and Southwestern U.S. tribal art, in addition to Southwestern silver & turquoise jewelry. He may have bought the fetishes from Larry Frank, but we have no written proof of that, only spoken memories of people he bought from in Arizona and New Mexico and the Santa Fe scene of the '60s & '70s.