Zuni Fetish Bobcat Hunting Rabbit Fetish by Maxx Laate

Late 20th Century

Size: 2 1/2"L

An uncommon work, masterfully executed.

Maxx Laate comes from a family of famous Zunis.  Less well known is that many of the other top carvers are his brothers and nephews because they go by other surnames.  

Maxx, like most Zuni artists, has tried many art forms: painting, pottery, wood whittling, katsinas and then silverwork. He learned casting from his father and he remembers casting arrowheads in the round. He and his brothers carved wood when they had to herd sheep, a really boring job. Their grandfather Gus Laate did only the traditional style fetishes, but he was the motivation to begin fetish carving, picking a soft rock and using a knife and file. His father Bennie Laate taught him to cast silver and he remembers casting a three-dimensional arrowhead piece. But mostly they were self taught, as most Zunis are. They took their creativity from the material and inventiveness they had from their own imagination.