The James M. Cole Collection of American Indian Art, presented by John Moran Auctioneers.
More than 300 lots of exquisite Native American art and artifacts are up for auction in The James M. Cole Collection of American Indian Art, presented by John Moran Auctioneers. The single-owner collection features American Indian basketry and objects, including Western-style jewelry, stone implements and flints, decorative items, Plains Indian beadwork, Northwest Coast wood carvings, Inuit soapstone carvings, and more. A varied selection of books from Cole’s extensive library that supported his connoisseurship is also offered. The auction takes place at 10 a.m. PST on Tuesday, March 15, in Moran’s showroom in Monrovia, CA, with bidders able to participate via multiple platforms.
Cole (1930-2020), a fourth-generation Californian raised in Whittier, developed an early fascination for the state’s Native American history and material culture. A collector by nature even as a child, Cole gathered arrowheads he found while exploring the hills and citrus groves with his brothers. Cole’s collective spirit and appreciation for the arts was ignited by a handwoven figurative California Mission basket he received from his grandmother. As an adolescent, Cole found the artistry and cultural associations of the object enthralling, ultimately inspiring the acquisition of more than 150 baskets. Cole’s position teaching psychology at College of the Sequoias allowed him the means to pursue his passion for collecting over many decades.
The primary focus of the auction is Cole’s extensive Native American basket collection. With more than 150 lots on offer, there’s an exciting array of regions, distinctive styles, sizes, and materials represented, mainly from various regions in California, but also from the Southwest and Northwest United States. Cole kept records of the inventory, including the name of the weaver (if known), the acquisition price, who sold it, and where, with many items having interesting and unusual provenances.
The large number of Yokuts baskets featured reflect Cole’s strong interest in collecting items from his local area, around Visalia, in Central California. The lowland marshes of the Sierra Nevada foothills and San Joaquin Valley produced the various materials used—including broken fern, sedge, and redbud—in the construction of the now highly prized and coveted baskets. A Yokuts “Friendship” basket, estimated at $2,000-$3,000, depicts two lively bands of figures holding hands.
Polychrome Yokuts “Friendship” basket, 5 x 14. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000.
While figurative and pictorial motifs are plentiful, Yokuts baskets also exhibit a variety of geometric designs, often influenced by or representing characters from the surrounding environment. Many of Cole’s Yokuts baskets display patterns representing the diamond shapes of snakeskin, such as this large cooking basket, estimated at $2,000-$4,000.
Polychrome Yokuts basket, 8 x 18. Estimate: $2,000-$4,000.
California Mission baskets also feature marvelous animal designs, including this coiled round tray, with an estimate of $5,000-$7,000, depicting a rattlesnake in dark stitches, with a second, fainter snake continuing to coil and flow off the edge.
Polychrome California Mission rattlesnake basket, 4 x 17. Estimate: $5,000-$7,000.
One of the most iconic types of baskets found in the Cole collection is the hat basket of the Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk tribes of Northern California. These cap baskets illustrate the complexity and skill required to achieve such small wonders. Highly desirable and finely woven in a twining technique, the motifs, or marks, also evoke characters from the natural environment of the area. The design names for marks such as Snake’s Nose, Frog’s Hand, Grizzly Bear’s Paw, Centipede, and Crab Claw can differ from tribe, village, family, and from past to present.
Polychrome Hupa/Yurok/Karuk basket hat, 4 x 7. Estimate: $500-$700.
Another exciting feature of the Cole collection is the more than 40 lots of stone implements, including points, flints, pipes, and others, of all sizes and shapes, with some prehistoric stone items as well. A framed collection of Tussinger eccentric flints is considered to be pre-historic or later and consists of 60 elaborately shaped points of various shapes and sizes. With an estimate of $3,000-$5,000, the flints are thought to have been excavated in Delaware County, OK, in 1921 by M. Tussinger. Speculation abounds as to whether the complex flints represent Mayan influence reaching far into North America. Cole’s notes include research and correspondence with experts regarding the origin story of the flints.
Framed collection of Tussinger eccentric flints, 27 x 35. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000.
In addition to the Cole collection, John Moran Auctioneers presents a dozen unique auctions this spring and summer, offering items ranging from modern and contemporary fine art, mid-century modern design, Arts & Crafts furniture, decorative home furnishings, and more. An auction titled ReDesigned takes place on Tuesday, March 22, and another titled California Living is slated for Tuesday, April 5. Bidding for all is now available via Moran Mobile, a new app, as well as through the website, by telephone, or by absentee bid. Visit www.johnmoran.com or contact [email protected] for more information.