American Indian Weavings at Auction

Sotheby's winter auction of American Indian Art took place in New York on December 2, 1987. The sale was Sotheby's first Indian Art auction since the departure of Ellen Napiura from the Tribal Art Department. (Ms. Napiura remains with Sotheby's as a consultant.) Dr. Bernard de Grunne, an African Art expert with little experience in American Indian material, organized the auction. The catalog was mailed in mid-November and its notable lack of strong material caused collectors and dealers to predict a weak sale. Concern over the mid-October decline in the stock market reinforced this concensus opinion. The low level of quality was most evident among the textiles. Since their sale of a Classic Navajo Serape, circa 1855, for $115,000 in October, 1983, Sotheby's has consistently attracted at least two dozen above-average Navajo blankets and early rugs per auction. During 1984 and 1985, Sotheby's became the place to sell a one-of-kind Navajo blanket or Saltillo serape for more than it was worth. It came as both a disappointment and a surprise to learn that the December 2 sale contained only seven blankets during the morning session, and that none of these blankets could be politely described as anything other than routine. The afternoon session contained 11 weavings, mostly early rugs. Here the quality ranged from marginal to truly pitiful. (Lot 289, two Navajo regional rugs, were the sort of bordered, 1940s rugs that dealers buy at fleamarkets for $150 and sell at antique shows for $250. Lot 289 was estimated at $700/1,000. It brought the low estimate.) None of the dozen or so serious Navajo blanket collectors attended the auction and dealer representation was as low as it has been during this decade. Over half the seats in the room were empty. Lot 75, a Navajo fringed Germantown blanket

The big surprise at the December 2 sale was how much money the dealers and collectors who did attend were willing to pay for such decidedly average textiles. Lot 75, a Navajo fringed Germantown blanket, circa 1880, estimated at $2,000/3,000, brought $5,500 from a Colorado dealer bidding against a dealer from New Jersey. Lot 76B, a Navajo Germantown blanket woven in a Moki pattern, circa 1885, estimated at $1,800/2,200, brought $3,850. Neither of these Germantown blankets would be difficult to replace at two thirds of their hammer prices. On the downside, Lot 77, a heavily and very badly restored Late CIassic Saltillo serape, circa 1870, estimated at $4,000/6,000, was bought in at $2,750. But Lot 78, a drab Navajo Manta, circa 1890, estimated at $3,000/5,000, realized $4,125 -- again, about 30% above what an experienced collector would expect to pay in a retail gallery. The most surprising display of auction fever was Lot 196, a fringed ceremonial dance blanket, chilkat, circa 1900, estimated at $7,000/10,000. The chilkat lacked any trace of aesthetic merit, was loosely woven and more than slightly faded. It was the sort of replica-style dance blanket made for sale to British and American tourists visiting western Canada during the early 1900s. In spirited bidding between a Pennsylvania collector/dealer and an East Coast collecting couple, the blanket brought $12,650 from the couple. I asked the under-bidder, whom I consider to be among the more astute collector/dealers in the field, why in the world he went above the low estimate for such an unappealing blanket. "I need a chilkat for my collection," he said, "and I didn't think I'd see another for less than $ I 5,000." The afternoon evolved along the same lines as the morning session. Lot 285, a transitional Navajo wedge weave blanket, circa I890, estimated at $2,000/3,000, brought $4,675. The wedge weave, which was faded (and so noted in the catalog) and riddled with holes, was one of the sorriest looking of its type that I have seen. A California dealer remarked, "If I was offered that wedge in Santa Fe, I would have thought long and hard before paying $2,000. They (the successful bidders) would have never paid a dealer half of what they paid for it here." Lot 77, a late classic Saltillo serape

Prices for unique American Indian art, and especially for unique Navajo blankets, have surged, while prices for uninspired examples have trended stable to down. This mania for quality accounts for the increasing scarcity of great blankets at auction: locating a fine blanket may be difficult but, once you buy it, selling it is so easy that waiting four or five months for an auction result really makes no sense.

(above) Lot 78, a Navajo woman's shawl or manta (right) Lot 74, a Germantown Navajo blanket

The American Indian art market is now at a juncture where an extraordinary Germantown third phase chiefs blanket, circa 1885, can sell privately for $16,000 (as one did the night before the sale), while a mediocre version of the same blanket from the same period (lot 74) realizes only $3,750. What the prices paid at the December 2 sale are saying is that the spread between good and great has grown too wide. Collectors and dealers are willing to bet that great material is too scarce, and good material too cheap. Whether or not this will result in stronger prices across the board for marginal Navajo weavings remains to be seen. It will take an auction containing a selection of outstanding blankets as well as many average examples to establish whether or not quality is still a bargain.

The Sotheby's sale also raises an indirect challenge to Butterfield's of San Francisco and Skinner's of Bolton, Massachussetts, two auction houses that have consistently improved the quality of their American Indian consignments over the last three years. If Sotheby's continues to offer weak material to its bidders, either Butterfield's or Skinner's should emerge as the premier auction house for American Indian material. As Sotheby's proved in October, l983, it takes only one great lot to pull in two or three years' worth of strong consignments.

After the auction, several clients and associates reacted to the prices with a shared sentiment. "Those prices are understandable," a dealer remarked, "when you consider the fact that there's really nothing all that great coming out of the woodwork." A client summed up the auction, and the American Indian art market in general, by saying, "I got out of the stock market with a small loss and there's no way I'm going back in. From now on, I'm only putting money into things I can see, taste and feel. If something I buy goes down in value, at least it will look nice on my wall."

This attitude, more than any other single influence, was what produced the strong prices for weak textiles at Sotheby's. There is a lot of impatient money in the United States right now. It may be on the sidelines, but it wants to be in the game. If that money can't buy quality, it will buy the next best thing.